aftift 

litterstty  uf  'Nortl}  Olarolina 


(Eiillprtinu  of  Hortlj  QlaroUmana 

CB 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032193402 

THIS  TITLE  HAS  BEEN  MICROFILMED 

This  book  must  no 
be  token  from  th( 
Library  building. 


MEMORIES 


B.  F.  KEITH 


€atti  or  liriti|. 


"  Truth  and  Honesty  Will  Conquer '' 


RALEIGH 

Bynum  Printing  Company 

1922 


INTRODUCTION 

About  the  year  175 —  a  family  landed  at  Fernandina, 
Florida,  having  journeyed  from  Scotland  in  a  sailing  vessel. 
They  were,  of  course,  unknown  to  many  on  this  side,  but,  in 
their  own  country,  they  had  held  a  proud  position.  The  war 
in  which  the  house  of  Stuart  fell  saw  many  proud  houses  as 
noble  as  theirs  fall,  too.  History  fails  to  explain  why  so 
many  noble  and  wise  heads  of  families  jeopardized  their 
name  and  fortune  by  alliance  with  that  unfortunate  house  of 
Stuart.  Buchanan  the  historian  says  that  the  only  way  he 
can  account  for  this  noble  family's  adherence  is  that  old 
Scotch  saw  which  says,  ''Blood  is  thicker  than  water."  In 
early  days  many  centuries  before  even  the  royal  house  of 
Stuart  was  heard  of,  they  had  been  entrusted  with  the  royal 
seal  and  a  member  of  their  family  had  been  continuously 
recognized  as  "Keeper  of  the  Royal  Seal"  until  the  year 
referred  to.  They  had  married  and  intermarried  with  roy- 
alty, and  so  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water"  certainly  applied 
to  them.  In  that  one  venture  they  sacrificed  a  position 
which  had  been  won  through  centuries  upholding  the  crown 
of  Scotland  against  all  comers.  After-events  prove  that  the 
prowess  that  won  fame  and  fortune  as  well  as  position  did 
not  die  with  the  dynasty  of  Stuart.  European  history  teems 
with  incidents  that  show  their  statesmanship,  and  military 
records  fully  attest  their  unfailing  leadership  of  men. 

After  sailing  up  the  St.  Marie  river  this  branch  of  the 
family  lived  in  Georgia  for  some  time,  then  gi'adually  moved 
up  into  South  Carolina,  where  the  father  and  mother,  who 
had  come  direct  from  Scotland,  died.  Their  offspring  be- 
came some  of  the  most  prominent  people  in  that  state,  and 
their  descendants  are  noted  for  their  high  and  progressive 
O  ideals,  standing  for  those  things  that  are  for  truth  and  jus- 

»)         tice,  to  the  poor  as  well  as  to  the  well-to-do  classes.     It  was 
*  [3] 


INTRODUCTION 


a  characteristic  handed  dovra  to  them,  their  Coat  of  Arms, 
bestowed  upon  them  by  their  king,  crossed  check,  motto, 
"Truth  and  Honesty  will  Conquer." 

The  lad  who  was  the  miller  boy  for  Marion  lived  in  South 
Carolina  until  the  beginning  of  old  age,  having  married  three 
times.  He  then  moved  to  North  Carolina  with  his  brother, 
who  later  returned.  Locating  in  the  Cape  Fear  section,  he 
proceeded  to  enter  large  tracts  of  land,  an  instinct  inherited 
from  progenitors  in  Scotland,  they  having  large  landed 
estates,  bestowed  upon  them  by  their  king  for  noble  service 
to  their  country.  It  was  still  in  the  blood  of  the  miller  boy 
to  acquire  land  where  he  saw  possibility  of  its  worth.  Hav- 
ing lost  his  third  wife,  he  married  the  fourth  time  after  he 
came  to  North  Carolina,  his  wife  being  the  daughter  of  a 
prominent  citizen  who  served  as  an  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  His  activity  caused  him  much  ill-treatment  by 
the  British  Tories,  being  placed  in  the  "Bull  Pen"  (as  it  was 
called).  '  His  stock,  cattle,  hogs,  etc.,  were  used  by  their 
army.  He  was  fed,  with  the  others  imprisoned  with  him, 
with  the  offal  throwm  over  the  pen  to  them,  as  it  is  thrown 
to  hogs.  They  milked  his  cows,  consumed  the  milk  and  but- 
ter, and  when  he  complained  to  the  officers,  they  would  tell 
him  he  ought  to  be  proud  that  he  could  do  so  much  for  his 
mother  country. 

The  old  Bull  Pen  was  at  the  north  end  of  an  old  milldam 
that  was  built  years  before  the  Revolution  by  Englishmen 
and  Welshmen.  It  was  in  commission,  grinding  and  sawing, 
with  the  old  up-and-down  saws.  The  same  old  mill  has  been 
in  operation  ever  since,  except  when  it  was  stopped  for  the 
woodwork  to  be  repaired  or  rebuilt,  as  it  was  about  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  This  work  required  two  hundred  thousand 
feet  of  heart  cypress  framing,  and  nearly  three  years  to  do 
the  job.  Many  were  skeptical  when  they  saw  it  torn  up,  say- 
ing that  they  never  expected  to  get  any  more  good  meal  from 
the  favored  old  mill,  the  rocks  of  which  had  been  brought 
from  England  by  its  first  builders  so  long  before  the  Revolu- 


INTRODUCTION 


tionary  war  that  the  oldest  inhabitants  could  not  remember 
when  it  was  built.  The  skeptical  also  said  that  it  would 
never  be  as  it  was,  as  its  first  builders  had  a  barrel  of  gold 
when  they  began  building  it,  and  it  was  said  that  it  took  it 
all  to  finish  the  job.  They  knew  that  its  second  builders 
(Bennie  and  his  brother)  had  nothing  to  compare  with  a 
barrel  of  gold.  However,  they  neglected  to  put  any  value  on 
energy,  perseverance  and  determination,  nor  did  they  appre- 
ciate the  advantage  of  looking  forward  instead  of  backwards. 
Some  of  these  same  doubters  are  still  living  and  eating  bread 
ground  at  the  old  mill,  afiirming  that  there  is  none  so  good 
anywhere.  ^Yhen  the  mill  gets  out  of  order  for  a  few  days 
they  begin  to  get  nervous,  and  vow  that  they  cannot  eat  any 
other  bread,  as  it  is  the  only  kind  that  gives  them  health. 

Marion's  miller  boy,  then  settled  in  North  Carolina  and 
married  the  fourth  time,  selected  a  place  as  near  like  the  old 
family  home  in  Scotland  as  he  could,  guided  by  descriptions 
given  him  by  his  parents  in  years  gone  by.  His  home  being 
between  two  streams  of  water,  he  named  one  after  the  one 
that  surrounded  the  old  home  in  Scotland,  and  it  has  been 
kno^vn  by  that  name  ever  since;  it  is  the  pride  of  anglers. 
The  following  verses  will  better  describe  its  charm : 

"CALEDONIA" 

Oh,  sweet  old  Caledonia,  the  sacred  home. 
Where  the  passing  river  kisses  the  sacred  shore. 
The  land  where  sacred  memories  dwell, 
With  its  forest  tinged  with  beauty  throwing  kisses  to  the  skies. 

No,  we  can  never  forget  the  beautiful  Caledonia, 
Never  while  life  ebbs  and  flows  on  earth. 
For  such  sacred  places  have  their  finals  in  Heaven, 
Then  why  not  rejoice  when  its  beauty  is  so  sublime? 

Oh,  sweet  Caledonia,  where  the  sun  and  moon 
First  peep  from  the  east  out  in  their  radiant  light. 
Will  ever  hold  the  place  next  to  eternal  life, 
May  its  beauty  and  sacredness  ever  hold  the  key  of  right. 


INTRODUCTION 


Sweet  Caledonia,  the  home  nearest  to  the  skies, 
Where  the  beautiful  old  river  goes  gleaming  by. 
Noted  for  its  traffic  as  with  fish  and  game, 
Where  the  anglers  and  hunters  can  find  no  complaint. 

The  flowing  Spring  at  old  Caledonia,  always  so  pure  and  sweet, 
Brings  us  back  to  the  sweet,  innocent  days  of  our  youth, 
Where  pain  and  sorrow  had  no  light  in  our  life. 
Where  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  were  the  light  so  beautiful  and  bright. 

Old  Caledonia  was  the  sweet  home  on  Scotland's  heights. 
Where  the  first  Earl  Marichal  saw  first  the  light. 
For  centuries  there  the  Seal  of  Scotland  was  kept  right, 
Until  the  love  of  liberty  gave  the  Chatties  new  life  and  light. 

Thence  to  America  some  did  flee  for  liberty  and  rights. 
While  others  to  Spain,  Russia  and  Prussia, 
There  to  give  counsel  to  the  kings  and  rulers  of  their  day, 
Holding  the  highest  positions  in  all  their  day. 

Those  to  America  have  always  been  true  to  their  adopted  home, 
The  young  lads,  with  their  dads,  shoulder  their  guns. 
When  the  Revolution  was  over,  we  had  won, 
Battled,  with  bare  feet,  lads  along  with  their  dads. 

Caledonia,  for  centuries  the  home  of  our  noble  sires. 
Until  no  more  in  old  Scotland,  beautiful  land, 
Now  transplanted  on  Caledonia  Creek  in  Carolina, 
Where  for  century  its  sacredness  held  by  noble  descendants  of 
William  Catti. 

Oh,  sing  of  sweet  Caledonia  the  sacred  place, 
It's  home  the  child  should  learn  to  love. 
It  brings  love  and  tenderness  to  dear  ones 
Whose  toils  and  anxiety  have  worn  them  away. 


MEMORIES 


By  B.  F.  Keith 


CHAPTER  I 

BABYHOOD 

The  fate  of  man  is  in  the  hands  of  an  all-wise  Providence, 
and  whether  we  admit  it  or  not,  we  know  that  He  rules  all 
things.  Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes,  is  as  true  now  as 
ever.  And  the  blessed  thought  that  comforts  when  nothing 
else  will,  is  that  He  who  looketh  after  the  sparrow  will  surely 
watch  over  those  w^ho  trust  Him. 

Two  years  before  the  war  (what  war  ever  took  such  a 
toll?)    between  the  states,  in  a  country  home  well  off  the 
main  thoroughfare,  there  was  born  a  child  to  parents  who 
were  blessed  with  just  enough  of  this  world's  store.     The 
home  was  a  log  cabin,  humble  as  any,  yet  comfortable  and 
roomy,  as  nearly  all  such  homes  were.     Soon  that  home  be- 
came too  small  to  accommodate  the  family,  and  a  move  was 
made  to  a  new  home  several  miles  away.     The  child  spoken 
of  above  was  two  years  old  by  this  time.    All  thought  to  live 
in  peace  and  happiness  and  plenty,  but,  alas !  for  the  plans 
of  man.     ^ot  long  after  coming  to  the  new  home  the  baby 
boy  fell  dow^n  the  steps  and  at  first  was  thought  killed.     The 
mother  was  in  bed  sick,  but  when  she  heard  the  cry  she  did 
what  nearly  ever  other  mother  would  have  done  under  the 
same  circumstances — got  out  as  quickly  as  she  could.     All 
the  old-time  remedies  were  put  to  use  to  assuage  the  pain 
while  the  mother-voice  spoke  w^ords  of  endearment  to  the 
little  sufferer.    Who  can  say  which  was  most  effective  ?    Suf- 
ficient to  know  that  soon  the  baby  eyes  opened,  and  then 
mother  hugged  him  as  only  mothers  can.    Oh,  what  a  memory 
of  mother !     Soon  after  that,  mother  went  back  to  bed,  never 
to  be  well  again  on  this  earth.    Oh,  the  memories  fostered  by 

[7] 


MEMORIES 


the  tales  of  the  mammy  nurse,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  the 
little  one  to  the  bedside,  so  that  mother  could  see  and  caress 
the  little  one  she  was  so  soon  to  leave  behind.  What  a  picture 
of  mother  that  little  boy  sees  now.  After  all  these  years, 
after  all  the  crosses  that  have  come — Mother — there  in  her 
chair,  with  the  big  Bible  on  her  lap ;  the  child  catching  hold 
of  her  dress,  and  with  her  help,  standing  there  while  mother's 
feeble  hands  turned  the  leaves  for  him  to  see  the  pretty  pic- 
tures. Oh,  how  lovingly  those  hands  stroked  his  head,  how 
tender  her  voice  as  she  spoke  words  of  endearment  to  the 
little  boy  she  knew  she  soon  must  leave  and  who  would  never 
know  the  tender  care  of  a  Christian  mother's  love.  Yet  even 
at  that  tender  age  little  Bennie  (that  was  the  name  the 
mother  had  given  her  boy)  always  felt  that  the  prayers  of 
mother  to  Him  who  promised  to  be  a  Father  to  the  fatherless 
and  a  helper  to  all  who  need  His  help,  were  especially 
answered  in  his  case.  As  a  result  Bennie's  faith  in  prayer 
grows  stronger  every  day.  Well,  about  this  time  politics 
became  hot,  and  people  who  thought,  might  have  stepped  to 
the  front  and  insisted  on  being  heard ;  but,  alas,  they  showed 
timidity  when  they  should  have  shown  strength.  Very  soon 
in  the  excitement  of  war,  conservative  thinkers  were  thrust 
into  the  background  and  the  wild-eyed  agitator  held  the  stage. 
As  usual  many  of  the  red-hot  war  lords  preferred  jobs  at 
home  looking  after  the  women  and  children  (at  least  that 
was  their  excuse),  but  after-events  showed  that  they  were 
most  interested  in  their  own  personal  gain.  If  any  man 
dared  to  oppose,  well — a  place  was  quickly  found  for  him  at 
the  front ;  if  they  never  came  back,  so  much  the  better.  Then 
as  now,  and  even  to  the  end  of  life's  chapter.  When  the 
reports  came  as  to  how  our  boys  were  whipping  the  Yankees, 
it  gave  courage  to  our  Southern  boys,  and  all  wanted  to  go 
and  have  a  hand  in  the  linishing  of  the  job  right,  but  after 
four  long  years  of  greatest  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  half- 
fed,  half-clothed  Southern  army,  well,  every  school-boy  knows 
the  result — overpowered  by  circumstances,  but  not  beaten. 


BABYHOOD 


After  days  of  bombardment,  Fort  Fisher  fell,  and  the  last 
artery  that  was  left  to  the  Southern  army  was  gone.  The 
vibrations  of  the  cannon  jarred  the  windows  in  the  house  in 
which  Bennie  lived,  and  even  rocked  the  chairs  upstairs — 
this  at  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  Bennie  remembers  being 
sent  by  his  stepmother  upstairs  to  get  something,  and  win- 
dows and  chairs  were  rocking  and  jarring  so  continuously 
that  he  became  scared  and  ran  downstairs  to  say  that  it  was 
not  there !  Being  told  to  go  back,  he  found  the  thing  on  a 
chair  which  he  had  to  pass  around ;  the  house  was  not  shaking 
so  badly  then  as  the  first  time.  In  fear  he  was  looking  to 
see  the  Yankees  coming  every  moment.  The  larger  colored 
children  kept  the  smaller  white  children  in  dread  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  Yankees.  They  told  them  the  Yankees  would 
kill  all  who  had  not  been  good  to  them  (the  negroes).  By 
such  means  they  managed  to  get  from  Bennie  what  his  colored 
mammy  gave  him,  and  often  Mammy  Fanny  had  to  look  for 
a  switch  and  threaten  to  whip  them  when  Bennie  told  what 
they  had  said  about  "Marse  Yankee"  and  what  they  would  do 
to  Bennie  if  he  did  not  do  so-and-so  for  them.  If  he  did, 
then  they  would  promise  to  tell  "Marse  Yankee"  that  he  was 
a  good  boy,  and  so  he  would  not  be  killed  or  hurt.  When 
mammy  heard  them  teasing  him  she  would  gather  her 
switches  and  start  on  the  nearest  one,  then  she  would  draw 
Bennie  close  to  her  and  tell  him  that  the  Yankees  would  not 
touch  him  nor  his  sisters,  as  they  were  all  good  and  obedient 
children,  and  as  such  the  Yankees  would  be  good  to  them. 
As  all  the  slaves  loved  their  master  and  mistress,  who  had 
treated  them  as  members  of  the  family,  the  promise  that 
"Ma  Fanny"  had  made  to  Bennie's  mother  on  her  deathbed 
that  she  would  always  look  after  Bennie  and  protect  him 
from  evil  as  best  she  could,  was  never  forgotten,  and  the  love 
of  Bennie's  mother  was  augmented  by  the  love  of  his  colored 
mammy.  With  old-time  devotion  (now,  alas,  too  seldom 
seen)  her  prayers  went  continuously  up  to  heaven  for  the 
motherless  boy  left  in  her  charge.     Only  those  who  have  ex- 


10  MEMORIES 


perienced  it  can  appreciate  what  such  a  love  means.  Mother- 
love  has  seldom  had  an  equal  on  earth,  but  the  "old  South" 
often  found  its  counterpart  in  the  affection  of  the  old-time 
colored  mammy. 

TO  MOTHER 

A  mother's  love,  say  who  can  gauge  its  depth,  its  breadth,  its  height ! 
It  watches  o'er  us  in  the  day  and  through  the  stormy  night. 
And  when  the  storm-clouds  gather  black  around  the  childish  head, 
They're  driven  away  by  mother's  prayers,  from  the  side  of  the 
trundle-bed. 

DEDICATED  TO  REAL  MOTHERS 

The  loving  mother  over  her  family  doth  watch. 
With  a  love  so  strong  no  one  on  it  can  make  a  blot, 
With  her  routine  work  she  presses  day  by  day, 
All  for  the  love  she  has  for  her  tender  babes. 

Once  they  were  small  but  now  they  may  be  large, 
Yet  mother  cannot  forget  they  are  still  in  her  charge. 
When  old  and  weary,  tired  out  with  work  and  pain, 
She  still  thinks  of  her  children  as  babies  again. 

The  sweet  loving  mother  whose  hands  are  so  light  and  kind. 
Can  soothe  the  pains  as  no  other  hand  can  do. 
All  because  it's  mother,  so  true  and  pure. 
When  she  comes  to  our  sick  bed  we  no  longer  have  the  blues. 

So  you,  to  you  who  have  lost  their  mother. 
The   world   can   no   more   be    as   kind   to   you   again, 
For   the  life   that  first  gave  you   light   has   gone. 
If  you  had  been  her  dutiful  child  you  need  not  weep  when  you  think 
of  her. 

To  you  who  still  have  your  mother. 
Help  to  make  her  life  bright  while  you  can. 
If  you   do   you   will   not   have   the   sorrowing   regret, 
As  so  many  who  to  her  their  duty  forget. 


CHAPTER  II 


WAS, 


Wliile  Bennie's  father  and  his  uncle  did  not  think  it  wise 
for  the  South  to  secede  (they  realized  that  the  South,  in  the 
end,  would  have  the  whole  world  to  fight)  yet  when  their 
influence  was  overcome  by  the  fierce  war  spirit,  and  believing 
that  each  State,  under  the  Constitution,  had  a  right  to  regulate 
its  o\\Ti  affairs,  and  after  all  offers  of  compromise  had  been 
rejected,  either  by  the  North  or  the  South,  and  while  both 
of  them  could  have  sent  substitutes,  (as  many  of  the  slave 
owners  did),  they  preferred  to  serve  their  home-land  by  going 
in  person,  leaving  their  plantations  to  the  care  of  overseers. 
While  they  were  almost  beyond  the  age  limit  when  they  left 
their  homes  to  defend  their  country,  they  wanted  to  do  their 
full  duty,  leaving  the  consequences  to  the  all-wise  Provi- 
dence who  does  all  things  for  the  best.  Both  went  to  the 
call  most  urgent,  which  was  at  Fort  Fisher.  The  elder 
brother  was  not  there  long.  He  had  taken  some  of  his 
slaves  who  were  needed  to  help  throw  up  breastworks,  build 
forts,  etc.  One  morning  when  the  muster  roll  was  called, 
the  senior  brother  did  not  answer;  upon  making  a  search, 
he  was  found  dead  in  his  bed  from  heart  trouble.  His 
body  was  sent  back  to  his  old  home  to  be  put  in  its  long- 
resting  place,  where  his  father  and  mother  were  put  to  rest 
when  he  and  his  brother  were  mere  children.  Their  father 
had  been  in  General  Marion's  army  when  he  was  but  a 
lad  of  sixteen  years  and  ground  corn  at  a  water-mill 
for  the  army  near  Darlington,  South  Carolina,  so  continu- 
ously day  and  night,  that  the  rocks  become  so  hot  that  they 
crumbled  to  pieces  like  clay. 

The  miller  had  had  four  children  by  his  fourth  wife,  two 
sons  and  two  daughters.  The  sons  were  the  ones  that 
marched  to  Fort  Fisher,  the  elder  dying,  the  younger  being 

[11] 


12  MEMORIES 


transferred  to  the  commissary  department  to  feed  the  army 
at  the  Fort  on  tithes  gathered  from  the  Piedmont  section, 
his  headquarters  being  at  a  thriving  little  town  in  that  section. 
He  operated  from  this  base,  buying  and  assessing  those  who 
could  spare  food  above  what  they  needed  for  their  ovsm 
plantations.  The  supplies  thus  gathered  were  sent  to  the 
Fort  for  the  army  that  was  protecting  the  gateway  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  While  engaged  in  this  work,  he 
often  met  face  to  face  with  the  notorious  Henry  Berry  Lowery 
gang  of  outlaws.  Those  who  were  active  in  the  war  and 
dared  to  inform  on  the  gang,  stood  in  peril  of  being  killed 
at  any  time.  When  met  by  the  tithe  gatherer  and  his  men, 
they  w^ere  spoken  to  and  passed  by.  Kot  once  were  the 
officers  of  the  commissary  ever  molested,  the  leader  being 
considerate  toward  all.  Wlien  the  news  reached  him  in  a 
day  or  two  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Fisher,  he  knew  that  it 
meant  defeat  to  the  Confederate  army,  word  coming  with  the 
news  of  its  capture  that  it  was  the  last  Fort  to  fall  and  that 
all  would  go  to  their  homes.  Making  ready  to  start,  he  had 
his  horse  saddled  and  hitched  at  the  back  of  his  office,  his 
knapsack  and  other  accoutrements  being  attached  in  readiness 
for  the  trip.  While  inside  engaged  in  gathering  up  his 
papers  and  other  documents  belonging  to  the  Confederacy, 
he  heard  several  gun  shots  within  a  short  distance  of  his  office. 
Going  to  the  front  door,  he  saw  one  of  the  men  who  was 
detailed  to  help  him  running  up  the  street ;  behind  him  the 
street  was  filled  with  Yankees,  many  of  them  shooting  at 
his  fleeing  comrade,  dressed  in  his  long-tailed  dress  suit  of 
homespun  (he  had  just  diked  out  to  return  home  to  his 
family).  The  subject  of  the  present  narrative  watched 
with  deep  concern  the  flight  of  his  friend,  who,  with  coat- 
tail  flying  behind  him  like  a  swallow's  tail,  finally  escaped 
with  his  life.  Being  so  interested  in  his  comrade's  safety, 
he  forgot  himself  until  he  was  surrounded  by  hundreds  of 
Sherman's  soldiers  when  he  was  ordered  out  of  his  office 
to  fall  in  line.      He  had  changed  to  his  Sunday  suit,  made 


WAR  13 

out  of  woolen  homespun  woven  at  home.  The  first  question 
asked  him  by  the  Yankees  was,  ''What  have  you  been  doing 
in  the  service?"  By  telling  a  lie  and  saying  that  he  was 
only  a  plain  citizen,  he  would  not  have  been  bothered.  How- 
ever, he  was  not  accustomed  to  tell  anything  but  the  truth 

and  he  told  it  in  this  instance.      "You  are  a  d d  old 

militiaman,"  he  was  told,  and  then  ordered  to  fall  in  line. 
He  informed  them  that  he  had  had  a  crippled  foot  since  a  boy 
and  could  walk  very  little,  and  added  that  he  had  a  horse 
saddled  in  the  back  yard  w^hich  he  wanted  to  ride  so  that 
he  could  make  the  march.  He  was  sent  with  a  couple  of 
soldiers  to  bring  him  out,  as  he  thought,  for  his  own  use,  but 
one  of  the  officers  admired  the  horse  so  much  that  he  insisted 
on  trying  him  out.  After  mounting  the  horse,  he  rode 
down  the  line  of  march  at  a  gallop  and  has  been  going  ever 
since,  as  he  never  returned  with  the  long-looked-for  horse. 

Eobbed  of  everything  worth  having,  he  w^as  placed  in 
line  with  thousands  of  other  Confederate  soldiers.  It  was 
in  the  dead  of  winter  and  they  had  to  march  through  sleet, 
snow,  and  rain,  through  mud  and  water,  by  Ealeigh,  Golds- 
boro,  and  on  to  New  Bern,  taking  three  months  to  make  the 
journey.  They  often  had  to  rebuild  the  roads  before  the 
army  wagons  could  pass. 

During  this  time  their  food  consisted  of  ear  corn  from 
five  to  eight  ears  per  man.  At  night  with  their  skillets 
they  would  boil  it ;  sometimes  for  a  new  diet  they  would 
parch  it.  They  never  had  anything  else,  unless  they  chanced 
to  find  a  shoulder  bone,  from  which  the  officers  had  cut  the 
part  suitable  for  frying  and  tossed  the  bone  away.  The 
lucky  finder  in  such  a  case  would  have  his  skillet  greased 
for  the  parched  corn,  or  have  bacon  and  boiled  corn  that 
night.  The  cooking  was  all  done  at  night,  so  as  to  be 
ready  to  march  from  early  dawn  until  the  next  night  when 
camp  was  struck  and  roped  around.  Those  who  forgot  and 
stepped  across  the  dead  line  after  a  chip  that  chanced  to 
fly  over  when  chopping  wood  for  their  sumptuous  meal  were 


14  MEMORIES 


shot  by  the  guard.  Many  having  no  teeth  to  grind  it  had  to 
swallow  it  whole,  except  what  could  be  mashed  by  the  gums. 
If  seen  crossing  the  camp  line,  they  were  shot  by  the  guard, 
and  killed  as  if  they  had  committed  murder.  Their  bedding 
was  one  tattered  blanket  and  their  resting  place  often  in 
mud  and  water.  Sometimes  they  would  sit  up,  rather  than 
lie  in  mud  and  water. 

The  poor  old  toothless  prisoners,  most  of  them  too  old  for 
service,  suffered  more  than  the  others,  especially  those  who 
came  from  South  Carolina.  They  would  be  up  half  the 
night,  boiling  their  corn,  munching  and  trying  to  eat  it. 
Many  of  them  were  found  lifeless  in  the  mornings,  their 
ragged  blankets  wrapped  around  them,  sleeping  the  last  long 
sleep.  They  were  put  into  the  gTOund  as  so  many  hogs  dur- 
ing a  cholera  epidemic,  with  no  friend  who  could  help  them, 
nor  relative  to  know  their  last  resting  place.  They  would  only 
be  reported  as  missing,  or  buried  among  the  unknown.  Can 
any  sane  Christian  say  that  war  is  not  the  worst  product  of 
Satan's  manufacture  ?  No  war  is  justified  unless  it  is  a  war 
of  defense,  in  which  case  no  red-blooded  man  will  shirk  his 
duty,  but  the  war  lords  should  not  be  the  judge  of  what  is 
defense.  Rather  it  should  be  left  to  those  who  have  to  face 
death  on  the  firing  lines  and  to  those  who  have  to  foot  the 
bills  for  its  cost — the  tax-payers. 

When  New  Bern  was  reached,  the  prisoners  were  put  upon 
steamers  and  taken  to  Point  Lookout,  there  to  be  fed  upon 
hardtack  with  a  little  salt  pork,  the  latter  so  negligible  in 
quantity  that  it  hardly  kept  life  in  a  system  already  run 
down  for  lack  of  nourishment.  The  hardtack  was  baked  so 
long  that  worms  had  finished  their  feasting  before  the  starved 
prisoners  had  their  first  peep  at  it.  Many  died  from  starva- 
tion. Some  would  wade  into  the  water  up  to  their  waists  and 
necks,  feeling  with  their  bare  feet  for  old  bones  and  what 
other  garbage  was  emptied  from  off  the  walkway.  The  finder 
of  a  bone  would  dive  down  for  it,  and,  bringing  it  to  the  sur- 
face, would  gnaw  upon  it  like  a  perished  dog. 


WAR  15 


When  the  prisoner  had  been  in  this  mad-honse  about  three 
weeks,  he  almost  gave  up  hope  of  living  much  longer.  He 
thought  with  bitter  longing  of  the  plentiful  food  that  he  had 
enjoyed  on  the  farm,  the  game  and  fish,  lamb,  beef,  fresh 
pork  and  the  old  fried  ham,  and  all  other  dishes  suitable 
for  a  king  to  feast  upon,  prepared  by  the  best-trained  cooks, 
whose  art  was  handed  dowTi  from  manmiy  cook  to  daughter. 
Along  with  such  tantalizing  recollections  came  memories  of 
the  old  friends  who  had  enjoyed  such  luxury,  who  often  came 
miles  out  of  their  way  while  passing  on  their  journey  to 
spend  the  night,  often  days,  in  this  hospitable  home.  Here 
the  guest  and  his  team  found  plenty  of  the  best,  with  a  proud 
nobleman,  as  he  was  called,  whose  delight  it  was  to  entertain 
his  guests  and  make  their  visit  a  long-remembered  pleasure. 
Eich  or  poor,  the  guests  were  given  a  welcome  that  made 
them  desire  to  return  to  the  home  where  the  hostess  showed 
that  training  which  was  an  inheritance  from  centuries  of 
noble  blood.  This  rich  legacy  is  manifested,  even  in  modest 
circumstances,  as  it  is  always  forgetful  of  self. 

Despairing  and  ready  to  give  up  hope,  he  one  day  met  a 
boy,  or  rather  a  young  officer,  who  had  been  raised  almost  in 
poverty  a  few  miles  from  his  home.  This  young  man,  while 
only  a  lad,  ran  away  from  his  parents  and  joined  the  army, 
although  too  young  for  the  service.  He  afterwards  heard 
that  his  mother  was  sick  (which  may  have  been  true,  or  not, 
as  many  mothers  and  families  thoughtlessly  wrote  distressing 
letters  to  their  sons  and  fathers).  His  captain  refused  to 
grant  him  a  furlough ;  but,  determined  to  see  his  mother,  he 
ran  away,  going  home  as  a  deserter.  He  received  a  message 
from  his  company  to  return,  which  he  refused  to  do,  ])roba- 
bly  through  fear  of  punishment.  A  posse  of  men  was  sent 
to  bring  him  in,  dead  or  alive,  but,  seeing  them  in  time,  he 
gTabbed  his  gim  and  ran  for  the  woods.  They  fired  on  him, 
whereupon  he  turned  his  g-un  on  them  and  fired  also.  By 
chance,  the  ball  struck  the  captain  of  the  squad  and  killed 


16  MEMORIES 


him.  The  boy  was  later  surrounded  and  captured,  was  hand- 
cuffed and  sent  on  the  train  to  Goldsboro,  there  to  be  court- 
martialed  and,  no  doubt,  shot.  However,  while  on  the  way, 
he  begged  his  g-uard  to  let  him  go  into  the  toilet,  which  he 
did.  Although  handcuffed,  he  quietly  locked  the  door  and 
worked  at  the  small  window  that  was  not  thought  large 
enough  for  any  one  to  get  through,  but  he  got  it  raised,  and 
squeezed  through  while  the  train  was  at  full  speed.  When 
he  fell  upon  the  ground  the  fall  stunned  him,  yet  before  the 
train  could  be  brought  to  a  standstill  he  had  gained  sufficient 
control  of  himself  to  get  on  his  feet  and  make  for  the  near-by 
woods.  Several  shots  were  fired  at  him,  but  all  missed  their 
mark,  and  he  kept  on  until  aboiit  ten  miles  from  where  he 
made  his  escape.  Working  his  way  in  from  the  woods,  he 
came  to  the  house  of  an  old  negro,  and  persuaded  the  old 
man  to  file  the  handcuffs  from  his  wrists.  He  realized  that 
there  was  only  one  chance  for  his  life,  which  was  to  get 
across  the  line  at  the  nearest  point  to  the  Northern  army. 
He  worked  his  way  through  the  woods  to  or  near  New  Bern, 
begging  his  food  from  negroes  and  sometimes  from  white 
homes  he  could  risk  approaching.  Also  he  helped  himself  to 
anything  he  could  find  in  the  fields,  and  in  such  w^ays  man- 
aged to  continue  his  journey,  traveling  mostly  through 
swamps,  as  the  main  roads  and  bridges  were  guarded.  This 
trip  was  nearly  a  hundred  miles  through  a  section  that  was 
unfamiliar  to  him,  but,  as  life  is  more  precious  than  death, 
he  did  not  think  of  the  hardships. 

He  finally  reached  the  place  he  had  learned  of  on  his  jour- 
ney. His  youthfulness  won  for  him  s^onpathy,  even  from 
the  mothers,  who  remembered  that  they,  too,  had  sons  in  the 
service.  While  they,  no  doubt,  felt  mortified  by  his  action 
and  his  endeavor  to  escape  to  the  Yankees,  they  knew  that  if 
a  son  of  theirs  was  in  such  a  fix  they  would  be  grateful  to 
any  one  who  helped  him  to  escape,  even  if  he  did  have  to  go 
to  the  enemv  to  avoid  being  shot  at  the  stake.     This  feelino- 


WAR  17 

helped  the  young  deserter  to  find  his  way  to  where  he  found 
men  to  take  him  across  the  river,  where  the  Yankees  would 
give  him  a  warm  welcome. 

The  day  that  the  half-perished  tithe-gatherer  met  this 
young  deserter,  dressed  in  full  officer's  uniform,  with  his 
deep  grey  eyes,  jet-black  hair,  and  long,  well-kept  mustache, 
he  could  not  get  his  mind  off  the  boy  as  he  had  known  him. 

The  young  man  asked  how  Mr. was  getting  along,  and 

was  told  that  he  was  perishing,  along  with  others  of  his 
friends  who  were  brought  there  at  the  same  time.  The 
princely  looking  young  officer  then  said :  ''Meet  me  at  a  cer- 
tain gate  in  the  morning  at  9  o'clock."  The  time  was  not 
forgotten,  for  at  the  hour  named,  the  young  officer  found  the 
tithe-gatherer  waiting  for  him.  After  a  cordial  welcome,  the 
young  man  said :  "I  have  had  your  name  placed  on  the  street 
commission.  I  have  vouched  for  your  honesty  and  high 
character,  and  you  will  have  freedom  to  go  and  return,  in 
and  out  of  the  prison,  when  and  as  often  as  you  choose.  The 
only  promise  that  I  request  is  that  you  will  be  inside  of  the 
prison  gates  each  day  before  sundown."  He  also  promised 
that  he  would  be  given  extra  food  and  plenty  to  eat,  and  that 
he  would  have  a  chance  to  make  money,  which  all  came  true. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  was  carving  out  all  kinds  of  rings 
with  silver  and  gold  sets  in  them,  which  found  a  ready  sale 
at  good  prices,  and  he  often  made  five  dollars  a  day  and 
more.  Soon  he  began  to  draw  extra  food  of  the  best.  The 
money  he  was  making  enabled  him  to  help  his  friends  who 
were  gradually  starving  as  he  was  before  he  ran  up  with  the 
deserter  boy.  For  years  after,  his  old  prison  companions 
would  drive  a  day's  journey  to  visit  the  one  who  they  vowed 
had  saved  their  lives  from  starvation.  At  such  times,  they 
would  sit  up  until  the  late  hours  of  the  night,  telling  of  those 
sad  days,  the  sad  incidents  of  thousands  in  prison  suffering 
from  hunger  and  exposure.  Still  there  would  be  some  amus- 
ing incidents  that  happened  during  the  agonies  of  prison  life 
2 


18  MEMORIES 


that  were  not  funny  at  the  time.  Years  afterwards,  though, 
they  could  enjoy  a  hearty  laugh  at  some  incident  that  was 
no  doubt  pathetic  at  the  time  it  occurred. 

Such  is  the  balm  administered  by  time.  It  is  well  that  all 
are  not  like  the  old  Baptist  deacon,  who  sat  in  the  amen  cor- 
ner of  his  church  and  was  considered  a  model  neighbor  as 
well  as  a  good  deacon.  His  pastor  was  invited  to  spend  the 
night  with  him,  and  after  supper  they  sat  around  a  big  wood 
fire  and  discussed  various  matters.     The  conversation  soon 

turned  to  the  war,  when  Deacon  C began  abusing  the 

Yankees  for  taking  his  negro  property  away  and  for  destroy- 
ing other  things.     The  longer  he  talked,  the  madder  he  got, 

until  his  old  pastor  said:    ''Oh,  Brother  C ,  you  must 

learn  to  forgive  your  enemies  and  wish  them  well."  Where- 
upon, the  old  deacon's  rage  appeared  to  become  less  control- 
lable, and  he  vehemently  exclaimed  that  he  did  ''wish  them 
well,  and  in  h — ,  too,  where  they  all  belonged." 


THE  LITTLE  PLOAV  BOY 

The  little  plow  boy  eleven  summers  old 
Finds  it  hard  to  keep  his  plow  straight  in  the  row, 
But  to  do  his  might  he  thinks  is  right, 
When  he  sees  to  help  his  country  is  but  right. 

The  cruel  war  has  changed  our  plans, 
And  now  the  little  boy  must  do  the  work  of  a  man 
Our  food  we  must  raise  to  command, 
Lest  we  too  perish,  like  they   in  foreign  lands. 

The  little  piggies  they  too  have  to  be  fed, 
And  when  cold  and  frosty  they  require  beds, 
So  they  will  grow  large  to  make  our  meat. 
That  all  may  have  plenty  of  it  to  eat. 

The  cows  and  calves  too  must  have  their  feed, 
If  nice  milk  and  butter  we  are  to  see ; 
When  we  go  to  our  meals  hungry  and  tired, 
We  expect  a  plenty  or  we  might  become  riled. 


WAR  19 


Tlien  thei-e  are  millions  of  others  to  be  fed, 
That  makes  us  farm  boys  willing  to  do  our  share, 
Lest  suffering  and  misery  will  come  to  our  ears, 
Then  we  would  be  ashamed  if  we  stayed  too  long  in  our  bed. 

There  too  are  so  many  loafing  men, 
Strolling  around  when  they  could  get  work  anywhere, 
That  it  makes  it  hard  on  every  boy  and  man. 
Especially  we,  the  boys  who  are  doing  all  we  can. 

The  loafing  man,  rich  or  poor, 
Should  be  made  to  work  or  to  the  roads  go. 
He  should  not  be  allowed  to  consume  what  others  make, 
Any  more  than  if  he  was  any  other  old  fake. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    EETURN    FROM    PRISOX 


In  the  course  of  time  people  often  change  their  viewpoints 
as  they  see  blessings  following  what  they  once  thought  to  be 
calamities.  During  the  long  months  that  the  tithe-gatherer 
was  in  prison  he  had  not  heard  from  the  loved  ones  at  home. 
They,  in  turn,  knew  not  whether  he  was  dead  or  alive.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  proclamation  was  issued,  which  freed  the 
slaves  and  gave  them  full  citizenship,  including  participation 
in  government  affairs,  elections,  etc.  This  is  yet  thought  by 
many  to  have  been  a  great  mistake.  With  his  wonderful 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  it  is  strange  that  he  overlooked 
the  fact  that  the  granting  of  citizenship  to  such  raw  recruits 
would  be  a  calamity,  not  only  to  the  whites,  but  eventually  to 
the  very  ones  he  wanted  to  help,  as  they  were  totally  unpre- 
pared to  participate  in  affairs  of  government. 

When  brothers  became  so  estranged  against  brothers  as  to 
spend  four  years  violently  fighting  each  other,  reason  van- 
ishes and  the  animal  comes  to  the  front  and  reigns,  to  the 
perfect  delight  of  his  Satanic  Majesty.  This  is  the  case  in 
every  instance  where  the  teaching  of  the  lowly  Nazarene  is 
rejected.  Though  Mr.  Lincoln  ranks  with  the  "Father  of 
his  Country,"  worthily,  yet  no  man  can  rule  alone,  nor  see 
the  future  clearly  enough  to  dispense  with  sound  advice  by 
those  competent  to  give  it.  Combined  knowledge  does  not 
prevent  errors  being  made,  but  it  will  considerably  reduce 
the  number  of  them.  Consequently,  good  advice  should 
always  be  heeded,  since  "In  the  multitude  of  counsellors 
there  is  safety."  This  applies  to  both  sides  of  the  family 
quarrel.  It  is  a  great  blessing  to  sinful,  blundering  humanity 
that  God  so  often  sees  fit  to  overrule  evil  with  good. 

After  being  kept  in  prison  until  late  fall,  he  was  given  his 
discharge  and  permitted  to  go  home,  changed  from  the  portly, 
[20] 


THE  RETURN  FROM  PRISON  21 


magnificent  specimen  of  Southern  gentleman  to  the  appear- 
ance of  a  forsaken  tramp,  so  much  so  that  he  was  not  recog- 
nized by  his  family  until  on  the  doorsteps.     His  family  had 
given  up  hopes  of  ever  seeing  him  again.     When  returning, 
his  body  servant  and  the  other  servants  were  not  there  to 
welcome  him,  as  had  been  the  custom  in  previous  years.   Only 
his  inmiediate  family  were  at  the  old  home— his  wife,  whom 
he  had  married  at  the  beginning  of  the  war ;  his  two  little 
girls,  a  son  sixteen  years  of  age  (who  had  arranged  to  leave 
for  the  war),  and  the  baby  boy,  who  was  then  six  years  old. 
Despondency  had  come  in  and  possessed  the  home,  and 
while  great  joy  came  when  the  husband  and  father  returned, 
yet  it  was  saddening  to  find  everything  gone  that  was  once 
so  plentiful  and  abundant.     Farm  supplies  were  about  ex- 
hausted, owing  to  the  devastation  of  the  war ;  debts  had  been 
made,  and  there  was  no  friend  to  help  in  restoration  of  team, 
provisions,  etc.    With  a  crippled  foot,  impaired  health,  along 
with  fallen  ambition,  and  being  unaccustomed  to  doing  man- 
ual labor,  he  did  the  best  that  he  could  in  planning  for  those 
that  had  agTced  to  rent  the  farm  land  on  shares  while  he  was 
in  prison.     The  rent  that  the  former  slaves  (the  most  trusty 
ones)  gave,  carried  the  family  through  the  winter,  and  by 
the  sheerest  economy  enabled  them  to  make  another  crop  the 
following  spring  and  sunmicr. 

When  spring  opened,  though  not  able  to  do  much,  the 
former  tithe-gatherer  and  late  prisoner  took  the  plow,  doing 
the  plowing,  while  Bennie,  seven  years  old,  and  his  sister, 
nine,  did  the  planting  and  hoe  work ;  the  second  sister,  eleven, 
remained  at  home  to  help  with  the  cooking,  washing,  and 
house  work.  Beimie's  faithful  old  nurse,  who  had  so  closely 
followed  him  and  saw  that  his  every  want  was  attended  to, 
had  been  taken  far  away  by  her  husband,  who  had  been  the 
slave  of  another  planter.  This  left  Bennie  without  his  nurse, 
who  loved  him,  it  seemed,  better  than  her  own  children. 
Now  at  the  tender  age  of  seven,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 


22  MEMORIES 


go  to  the  field  from  early  breakfast  till  noon ;  then,  after  the 
midday  meal,  going  back  to  his  work  in  the  field,  where  he 
chopped  grass  and  weeds  till  sundown ;  then  to  drive  the 
cows  up  for  the  milking  to  augment  the  scanty  food.  His 
bare  feet  were  often  sore  and  bleeding  from  rough  clods  or 
stone-bruises.  After  the  evening  meal,  he  would  climb  the 
stairway,  with  limbs  aching  so  that  it  required  the  greatest 
effort  to  pull  himself  up  the  steps  by  the  railing,  there  to  roll 
upon  his  bed  until  sleep  from  exhaustion  claimed  him  until 
he  was  called  next  morning  to  get  the  cows  from  their  stalls 
to  be  milked,  and  help  to  do  the  numerous  other  things  for 
which  the  small  boy  on  the  farm  is  found  so  handy.  After 
breakfast,  the  same  round  over,  working  in  the  field  from 
sun  to  sun,  which  was  at  least  twelve  hours  per  day;  then, 
after  leaving  the  farm  at  sundown,  one  mile  from  home,  he 
was  often  busy  till  late  at  night  feeding  the  stock.  Every 
other  night  he  went  over  a  mile  away  from  home  to  feed  the 
hogs,  which  were  kept  out  on  the  open  range. 

With  the  blessing  of  Providence,  enough  corn  and  bacon 
was  made  to  take  them  through  another  year,  with  some  to 
spare.  There  was  a  good  demand  for  it,  but  very  little  money 
to  be  had  in  exchange.  Labor  was  plentiful,  but  what  was 
raised  on  the  farm  could  not  be  used  to  pay  taxes.  The 
debtor  came  and  took  all  the  cash  that  could  be  realized  from 
sales.  The  blight  of  poverty  had  fastened  its  claws  of  dis- 
tress so  deep  into  the  home  that  it  took  all  that  could  be 
raised  the  first  few  years  to  keep  the  shadow  of  despair  from 
taking  possession. 

DEDICATED  TO   JULIAN— A  REAL  UP-TO-DATE   FARMER 

The  Farmer's  life  looks  to  others  easy  aud  all  right, 
But  his  work,  when  well  done,  is  like  that  of  his  wife,  always  just 

begun, 
For  his  routine  work  is  from  day  to  day. 
In  the  hot  sun,  dew,  and  rain,  if  he  is  to  find  any  gain. 


THE  RETURN  FROM  PRISON  23 


Yet  it  is  often  we  hear  the  non-producer  saj', 
If  I  had  a  farm  I  \Aonld  jj;o  on  it  and  stay. 
If  they  were  there,  the  towns  they  would  want  near, 
And  about  the  hot  sun,  dew  and  rain  they  would  soon  complain. 

It  takes  no  dude  nor  lazy  man  to  successfully  run  a  farm. 
For  you  have  to  he  continually  on  the  go  to  make  any  show ; 
The  soil  must  be  fed,  if  you  are  to  be  fed  in  return ; 
If  you  do  not  feed  it,  the  hunger  in  your  stomach  soon  will  burn. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE    YOUTHFUL,    FARMER 


When  Bennie  was  twelve  years  of  age,  the  most  faithful 
old  slave,  Uncle  John  Brest,  had  taught  Bennie  to  hold  the 
plow,  so  that  he  could  plow  very  well.  By  the  time  he  was 
thirteen  years  old,  he  took  charge  of  his  father's  farm,  and 
after  that  the  father  saw  the  farm  only  twice  that  year — 
once  when  it  was  being  prepared  for  planting;  the  second 
time,  when  he,  with  his  hired  hands,  were  pulling  the  fodder. 
Afterwards,  it  was  seldom  that  he  saw  the  farm,  only  to  ride 
over  it  with  some  of  his  friends  to  show  them  the  crop.  He 
was  not  able  to  do  manual  labor,  and  some  thought  that  he 
seldom  had  a  desire  to  do  so,  but  had  the  greatest  art  of  hav- 
ing it  done  by  others.  He  was  more  at  home  when  enter- 
taining some  of  his  friends,  but  he  claimed  that  son  could 
manage  so  much  better  than  he  could  that  he  left  everything 
up  to  him. 

About  this  time,  abundant  crops  were  raised  on  the  farm, 
as  the  soil  was  naturally  rich,  and  its  fertility  was  kept  up 
by  resting  half  of  it  each  year,  which  answered  as  a  fertilizer. 
It  was  well  that  it  did,  as  there  was  but  little  money  with 
which  to  buy  anything.  As  soon  as  a  crop  was  housed,  there 
were  those  (kno\vn  as  note  traders)  waiting  to  collect  the  old 
notes  and  securities  that  were  given  before  the  war,  when  the 
givers  never  thought  that  they  would  become  so  that  they 
could  not  pay  at  any  time  they  were  called  upon.  Besides, 
there  were  not  many  but  believed  if  the  slaves  were  freed, 
that  all  debts  would  be  annulled  at  the  same  time,  and  gave 
but  little  thought  to  it;  also  the  note-holders  did  not  want 
Confederate  money,  and  the  matter  passed  unnoticed.  After 
it  was  found  that  they  had  to  pay,  many  of  them  took  the 
bankrupt  oath,  stating  that  they  were  not  able  to  pay,  and 
thereby  went  free.  Honesty  being  one  of  his  principles,  he 
[24] 


THE  YOUTHFUL  FARMER  25 

paid  his  oblig-ations,  securities,  etc.,  notwithstanding-  that  they 
were  made  under  entirely  different  conditions  than  prevailed 
after  the  war.  The  former  tithe-gatherer  told  his  creditors 
that  if  they  insisted  upon  his  paying  them  at  once,  they 
would  have  to  sell  him  out,  as  he  would  not  take  the  advan- 
tage of  the  bankrupt  oath,  which  was  intended  for  protection, 
but  if  they  would  wait  on  him,  as  fast  as  he  could  make  it 
from  his  farm  he  would  pay  every  cent  that  his  debts  called 
for.  Knowing  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond,  they 
did  not  ask  for  further  security,  but  waited  on  the  faithful- 
ness of  his  promise  and  the  fine  crops  that  Bennie  and  the 
hired  help  produced  each  year. 

When  the  crops  were  housed,  the  creditors'  wagons  and 
carts  were  as  thick  around  the  barns  and  smokehouses  as  at 
a  public  mill,  each  taking  his  turn  to  get  his  portion.  Thus 
the  bountiful  crops  that  were  raised  by  the  will  of  a  kind 
Providence  were  soon  divided  between  the  waiting  creditors. 
Bennie's  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  daily,  except  on  Sunday, 
with  that  of  his  sisters,  went  to  others. 

Their  stepmother  soon  became  an  invalid  after  her  mar- 
riage, and  was  able  to  do  but  very  little  for  many  years  to 
assist,  except  to  instruct  the  sisters,  who,  with  Aunt  Dafney, 
did  practically  all  of  the  work.  Aunt  Dafney  was  the  old 
cook  who  had  been  with  them  as  a  slave  years  before  the  war. 
She  lived  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  home,  and  her 
reputation  as  a  cook  was  known  far  and  near.  Her  knowl- 
edge and  art  in  preparing  tasty  dishes  was  a  great  help  to 
her  young  pupils. 

The  process  of  paying  debts  continued  until  Bennie  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when  the  last  of  the  old  debts  were 
paid,  one  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar,  only  a  few  allowing 
the  interest  off. 

During  these  years  of  trials,  there  was  no  schooling,  except 
sometimes  during  the  winter  there  were  from  two  to  three 
months,  and  this  was  all  the  schooling  that  Bennie  got.  When 
he  was  about  growm,  his  strenuous  work  for  others  caused 


26  MEMORIES 


his  health  to  fail,  and  the  doctor  who  was  called  to  attend  him 
said  that  it  would  be  only  two  or  three  years  at  the  most 
before  he  would  be  dead,  and  advised  him  to  get  all  the  sun- 
shine possible.  This  good  advice  suited  Bennie,  not  being 
accustomed  to  staying  in  the  house  any  longer  than  it  took 
him  to  eat  his  meals.  He  made  use  of  his  woolen  shawl 
through  the  hottest  of  the  summer,  and  while  he  was  too  weak 
to  walk  one  mile  to  the  farm,  he  would  saddle  his  horse  every 
day  the  weather  would  permit  and  ride  over  to  the  farm, 
where  he  could  ride  up  and  down  the  rows,  following  the 
hands  with  the  hoes,  as  well  as  the  plow  boys.  It  was  said 
by  them  that  no  one  ate  any  idle  bread  while  working  for 
him;  yet  while  others  often  complained  of  lack  of  hands,  he 
could  always  get  all  he  wanted  and  with  the  best  service  ren- 
dered; while  they  said  he  worked  them,  they  could  always 
rely  on  getting  their  pay  to  the  exact  amount  promised. 

His  health  began  to  improve  gradually,  and  by  the  follow- 
ing year  he  was  able  to  manage  his  crop,  from  the  beginning, 
himself,  although  not  yet  able  to  walk  to  the  farm.  Saddling 
his  horse,  he  would  be  in  the  field  as  near  sunrise  as  possible, 
riding  from  place  to  place,  often  with  his  horse  jumping 
ditches,  to  see  that  each  set  of  hands  were  doing  their  work 
as  it  should  be  done. 

The  saintly  old  pastor  of  the  family  made  his  home  with 
them  a  good  portion  of  the  time,  as  it  was  a  convenient 
point  to  the  churches  he  served  so  long  and  well.  He  was 
a  Princeton  student,  his  father  being  one  of  the  wealthiest 
men  in  his  state,  Tiaving  owned  over  five  hundred  slaves. 
Bennie's  father  and  the  pastor  were  such  close  friends  that 
they  were  called  sweethearts. 

Although  making  the  record  crops  in  his  section,  Bennie 
realized  the  disadvantage  he  would  have  to  contend  with  all 
his  life,  due  to  his  lack  of  education.  The  pastor  had  often 
talked  with  Bennie  about  going  to  school,  as  he  realized,  with 
others,  that  it  was  doubtful  if  he  would  ever  again  be  able 


to  do  manual  labor, 


THE  YOUTHFUL  FARMER 


After  housino-  his  crop,  along  came  a  young  man  with  a 
magic  hmtern  show,  who  exhibited  at  the  school  house  in 
the  neighborhood.  He  stopped  at  Bennie's  house  from  Satur- 
day night  till  Monday  morning.  He  offered  Bennie  one- 
third  of  all  the  money  taken  in  if  he  would  go  ahead,  secure 
places  to  exhibit  and  advertise  the  show.  The  offer  seemed 
good  to  one  whose  money  had  always  come  so  hard,  so  Bennie 
decided  to  accept  it,  though  not  much  to  his  father's  liking, 
as  he  was  a  little  dubious  about  such  methods  of  making 
money.  While  it  was  a  new  venture  for  Bennie,  he  never- 
theless gave  it  a  trial.  He  was  on  the  road  for  three  months 
in  his  private  conveyance  and  in  that  period  of  time  he  did 
not  meet  a  single  acquaintance.  All  were  strangers  who  had 
to  be  met  in  a  way  to  gain  their  confidence.  He  soon  became 
a  pretty  good  judge  of  people  and  by  meeting  them  in  a 
courteous,  friendly,  straight-forward  manner,  he  was  treated 
with  courtesy  and  consideration  in  return.  This  experience 
was  the  best  schooling  he  ever  had. 

The  following  fall  he  decided  that  he  would  start  out  to 
do  the  best  he  could  in  becoming  better  prepared  to  meet  the 
problems  he  would  have  to  contend  with.  An  old  friend  of 
his  father's  family  began  a  school  about  six  miles  away,  in 
a  village  Bennie  had  been  accustomed  to  go  to  once  or  twice 
a  month,  generally  on  horse  or  mule  back,  carrying  a  basket 
of  eggs  on  his  arm ;  later,  he  went  with  cart  or  wagon  loaded 
with  corn  or  other  products  to  exchange  for  sugar,  coffee, 
flour,  kerosene  and  other  things  that  were  not  raised  on  the 
farm.  He  was  no  stranger,  especially  with  the  merchants, 
who  always  had  a  kind  word  for  him. 

Bennie  enrolled  in  the  school  started  by  his  old  friend 
and  went  at  his  school  work  like  he  did  his  farm  work, 
with  his  whole  heart  and  mind.  Notwithstanding  his  physical 
condition,  he  made  rapid  progress,  and  was  soon  close  to  his 
old  friend  who  had  spent  many  days  and  nights  at  Bennie's 
home,  where  he  came  every  time  he  was  near  enough  when 
following  his  profession,  civil  engineering.     The  friendship 


28  MEMORIES 


between  teacher  and  scholar  grew  wanner  as  years  went  bv, 
until  the  grand  old  aristocrat  was  called  to  the  land  from 
whence  no  traveler  returns. 

THE  CHURCH 

The  grand   old   Church   once  stood   for   so  much, 
Has  fallen   asleep   in   its   retreat, 
From   the  once   noble  cause   it  inspired. 
Millions  it  did  save  by  drawing  them  nigh. 

Since  the  lines  of  the  world  and  church  is  so  indistinct. 
The  grand   old   church   has   failed   to  think, 
Its  charms  seem  to  be  passing  away, 
Which  must  give  pain  to  every  one  not  insane. 

For  it  was  the  old  Church  that  placed  the  world  so  high, 
Now  it  is  the  world  that  to  the  Church  is  so  nigh. 
Wake  up  all  ye  that  are  asleep, 
And  get  closer  to  our  Saviour's  feet. 

The  old  Church  was  led  by  men  who  stood  for  right, 
Now  often  led  by  men  that  might  makes  right. 
So  wake  up  ye  be  born  again. 
Or  the  old  time  Church  will  again  be  slain. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE    SCHOOL 


Beiinie's  vision  broadened  while  at  the  little  school  in  the 
village  on  the  river  bank.     Here  he  made  new  friends  and 
also  renewed  acquaintance  with  older  friends  of  his  father's. 
One  of  the  most  prominent  of  these,  a  man  noted  for  his 
enterprise  and  kindness,  seemed  to  take  a  great  interest  in 
him,  mainly,  perhaps,  because  he  was  the  son  of  his  friend. 
When  it  was  rainy,  cold,  or  snowing,  he  would  await  Bennie's 
coming  and  insist  upon  his  spending  the  night  with  him. 
Often  one  of  the  sweet  little  girls,  not  old  enough  to  attend 
school,  would  meet  him  at  the  gate  with  a  beautiful  bouquet 
of  flowers,  as  a  token  of  her  kindness.     It  began  to  make 
Bennie  feel  that  there  was  something  w^orth  living  for  to 
have  such  good  friends  and  their  kindness  made  the  domi- 
hearted  lad  feel  much  brighter.     The  chord  of  friendship 
never  failed ;  his  old  friend  lived  many  years  after  Bennie^s 
father  died,  and  was  an  active  man  in  business  until  his 
death  a  few  years  ago.     His  kind  and  valuable  advice  was  a 
great  help  to  Bennie,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  felt  that  he 
had  lost  a  double  friend  in  the  death  of  Captain  • 

One  of  his  daughters,  who  inherited  a  gTeat  portion  of  her 
father's  kindness,  is  living  in  this  State,  and  wearing  her 
mantle  with  honor. 

During  the  six  months  school  in  the  village,  Bennie  made 
fine  headway.  The  following  year  he  decided  to  make  as 
large  crop  as  possible,  though  he  was  still  unable  to  do  manual 
labor.  He  hired  hands  and  planted  cotton  for  his  money 
crop,  for  w^hich  he  bought  some  fertilizer.  The  season  was 
too  wet  for  cotton  to  do  well  that  year  and,  consequently, 
there  was  very  little  left  after  accounts  and  expenses  were 

paid. 

He  determined  to  go  to  school  that  winter,  although  he 
only  had  money  enough  to  buy  his  railroad  ticket  and  pay 

[29] 


30  MEMORIES 


one  month's  board.  He  left  for  high  school  for  one  session, 
with  less  than  twenty-five  dollars,  not  knowing  the  principal 
nor  a  single  person  in  the  town.  When  he  arrived  there 
with  his  trunk,  on  a  rainy  Sunday  morning,  he  walked  up 
to  the  preparatory  school  in  the  rain  and  mud,  rang  the 

doorbell,  asked  the  porter  who  answered  if  Dr. was 

at  home.  Being  told  he  was,  he  asked  to  see  him  and  when 
the  D.D.  came  to  the  door,  he  introduced  himself  and  was 
invited  into  the  sitting  room,  where  he  was  asked  to  relate 
his  business.  Bennie  complied,  told  why  he  went  there  to 
better  qualify  himself  for  future  life,  relating  his  plain 
simple  story  and  telling  the  D.D.  if  he  could  take  him  in  his 
school  until  the  session  was  over  in  the  spring  that  he  would 
go  home  and  make  a  crop  and  pay  him  every  cent  due  him. 
With  his  keen  blue  eyes  upon  him  all  the  time,  the  D.D. 
finally  said  he  had  a  partner  and  while  it  was  hard  to  get 
enough  out  of  the  school  to  run  it  at  the  low  price  they  were 
charging  for  board  and  tuition,  when  everything  they  had 

to  buy  was  so  high,  yet  if  his  partner,  Professor  C , 

would  agree  to  take  him  for  the  balance  of  the  term,  he 
would  also.  He  then  asked  Bennie  to  go  to  the  Professor's 
room  on  the  second  floor.  Beaching  there,  he  was  introduced 
to  the  big  headed,  though  medium  sized  man,  who  looked  so 
serious  that  Bennie  began  to  have  doubts  as  to  his  position, 
but  the  Doctor  stated  Bennie's  request  to  the  Professor.  After 
asking  a  few  questions,  they  said  they  were  willing  to  take 
him  on  credit.  Then  the  Doctor  said  that  there  was  not 
a  vacant  room  in  the  College,  many  having  over  two  beds  in 
each,  and  added  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  arrange  for 
his  room,  as  the  Professor  was  the  only  one  who  had  a  room 
to  himself  and  he  didn't  like  to  have  anyone  with  him.  The 
Professor  remarked  that  he  woiild  not  object  to  taking  Bennie 
as  a  room-mate,  which  was  pleasing  to  all,  especially  to 
Bennie. 

The  friendship  began  to  grow  from  the  first  day  between 
the  teacher  and  pupil  and  they  soon  became  the  closest  of 


THE  SCHOOL  ?,1 


friends.  This  friendship  Listed  all  through  the  Professor's 
life,  who  became  one  of  the  most  learned  lawyers  in  the  State, 
while  Bennie  became  one  of  the  State's  business  men  and 
sold  goods  in  the  Professor's  to\\ai  for  years. 

Though  handicapped  by  feeble  health,  the  new  pupil  got 
douTi  to  earnest  work.  When  he  was  suffering  too  much  to 
remain  in  the  class  room,  he  would  take  his  books  to  his  room 
and  study  as  well  as  he  could  while  tossing  from  one  side 
of  his  bed  to  the  other,  trying  to  find  ease.  In  spite  of 
such  a  handicap,  he  kept  up  with  the  brightest  in  his  class. 
Generally,  he  kept  to  himself,  as  he  had  no  money  to  spend 
and  w^as  obliged  to  dress  very  plainly.  Dress  and  money 
are  often  the  price  of  becoming  popular,  and  the  self-respect 
of  honest  and  sincere  persons  is  sometimes  mistaken  for 
sensitiveness. 

Bennie  never  intruded  on  those  whose  actions  did  not 
indicate  frankness.  It  was  two  or  three  months  after  he 
began  high  school  before  his  principal,  the  Doctor,  had 
occasion  to  attend  a  conference  near  enough  to  Bonnie's  home 
to  meet  with  some  who  knew  him.  Among  the  number  was 
Bonnie's  old  pastor  and  dear  companion  of  him  and  his 
family.  When  the  Doctor  was  asked  about  how  Bennie  was 
getting  along,  he  was  agTeeably  surprised  to  learn  the  high 
esteem  in  which  the  stranger  was  held,  and  told  by  the  old 
pastor  that  he  had  known  the  boy,  now  entering  into  man- 
hood and  his  family  for  years  and  that  they  were  the  "salt 
of  the  earth."  He  also  asked  that  the  boy  be  looked  after 
with  all  the  care  possible.  As  soon  as  the  Doctor  returned 
to  his  school,  he  sent  for  Bennie,  and  delivered  a  message 
of  love  from  the  grand  old  nobleman.  When  he  was  through 
telling  him  the  many  nice  things  said  about  him,  he  invited 
him  into  the  sitting  room  with  his  family  and  bade  him  be 
welcome  and  to  come  in  and  talk  with  them  anytime  he 
wished,  as  he  would  henceforth  be  considered  as  one  of 
the  family.  This  privilege  was  not  extended  to  any  of  the 
other  sixty-five  or  seventy  boys  who  were  attending  the  school. 


32  MEMORIES 


From  then  on  he  was  introduced  to  the  best  girls  of  the  school 
as  well  as  of  the  town,  and  his  plain  dress  never  hindered 
or  kept  him  from  being  entertained  at  any  special  fete  of  the 
girls,  whether  in  school,  town  or  surrounding  country,  where 
many  fine  old  Colonial  mansions  were  to  be  found. 

When  Bennie  first  landed  at  school  the  class  of  boys  that 
went  to  school  gave  him  rather  a  cold  reception,  but  it  was 
not  long  before  he  was  consulted  about  almost  everything  that 
the  societies  of  the  school  had  anything  to  do  with.  When 
he  was  given  special  privileges  by  the  Principal,  there  were 
some  who  manifested  more  or  less  jealousy  but  he  paid  no 
attention  to  it,  being  always  kind  to  those  who  would  let  him. 
It  seemed  that  several  of  the  more  common  ones  could  not 
endure  seeing  him  specially  favored  and  would  speak  of  him 
as  the  young  ladies'  pet.  They  finally  decided  to  get  even 
with  him  by  one  of  their  bullies  insulting  him  without  provo- 
cation. This  bully  was  said  to  be  a  champion  and  considered 
to  be  some  "scrapper."  He  was  to  give  Bennie  a  thrashing 
for  the  benefit  of  the  school  gossips,  but  when  the  insult  came, 
before  he  had  time  to  think,  he  was  hurled  to  the  floor,  with 
Bennie  on  top  of  him  knocking  him  in  the  face  until  he 
called  for  help.  Some  of  his  crowd  rushed  to  help  him  but 
they  were  pushed  back  by  Bennie's  friends ;  before  the  bully 
was  allowed  to  get  up,  he  was  made  to  beg  pardon  and  admit 
that  he  was  in  the  wrong. 

Apparently,  this  ended  the  matter,  at  least  for  the  time 
being.  A  short  time  afterwards,  a  reception  was  held  on 
Friday  night,  after  the  Debating  Society  exercises  were  over. 
One  big  fellow,  who  came  from  another  town,  tried  to  get 
some  of  the  girls  to  be  his  partner  in  some  of  the  games  that 
were  played.  They  all  refused,  as  it  had  gotten  out  in  the 
college  that  his  large  touring  trunk  was  filled  with  many 
articles  that  boys  did  not  wear.  As  he  had  been  a  clerk  in 
a  large  department  store,  they  could  not  understand  why  he 
should  buy  things  that  he  had  no  use  for.  Being  sore,  he 
had  to  take  his  spite  out  on  someone  for  snubs  from  the  girls. 


THE  SCHOOL  33 


SO  when  he  went  back  to  the  auditorium  with  the  boys,  ho 
insisted  that  it  was  the  pet  who  was  the  cause  of  the  treat- 
ment he  had  received.  Looking  straiglit  at  Bennie,  lie  said 
that  he  could  whip  any  s —  b —  who  was  to  blame  for 
it.  He  was  asked  why  he  looked  so  straight  at  Bennie  and 
answered  that  he  was  the  cause  of  it.  When  told  that  he 
knew  nothing-  about  his. being  snubbed  and  cared  less,   he 

told  Bennie  that  he  was  a  1 .     By  the  time  the  word 

was  out  of  his  mouth,  he  was  knocked  in  the  face  against 
the  wall  and  held  by  the  throat  and  kicked  faster  than  a 
mule  could  kick  with  a  hornet's  nest  tied  to  his  tail.  In  a 
few  minutes,  he  cried  out  that  he  was  done  and  begged  pardon, 
but  when  he  was  freed,  he  sat  dowm  and  talked  himself  into 
another  mad  fit ;  he  then  pulled  out  his  knife  and  said  he 
did  not  have  a  fair  show  and  would  not  stand  for  it.  The 
professor  happened  to  be  in  the  hall  and  saw  it  all,  and 
he  was  asked  if  he  thought  it  fairly  done ;  he  and  also  the 
boys  said  that  it  was.  However,  the  big  bully  had  aroused 
Bonnie's  Scotch  fire  and  he  proposed  that  they  take  them- 
selves into  the  adjoining  room  and  settle  the  matter  with 
knives  or  in  any  other  way  the  other  might  suggest,  but  the 
big  bully,  as  he  was  called,  decided  that  he  was  ready  to 
stop  it  all,  and  they  were  friends  but  never  chums. 

In  the  meantime  the  first  fighter  had  gathered  up  five  of 
his  chums,  and  waylaid  Bennie  and  all  jumped  on  him,  to 
give  him  what  they  said  would  be  a  plenty;  if  one  could 
not  do  it  alone,  they  could  do  it  together.  They  caught  him 
half-way  between  the  town  and  the  school.  As  soon  as 
they  were  near  enough,  they  assailed  him,  two  at  a  time. 
It  was  not  long  before  he  had  the  first  two  running  in  different 
directions  and  as  the  other  three  started  in,  he  took  a  piece 
of  timber  and  went  for  them.  Before  they  knew  what  had 
happened,  they  were  fleeing  at  full  speed,  with  Bennie  behind 
doing  his  best  to  get  near  enough  to  use  his  piece  of  timber. 
Those  who  witnessed  the  battle  said  that  it  was  a  complete 
victory. 

3 


34  MEMORIES 


When  the  principal  returned  on  Monday,  he  felt  it  such  an 
outrage  that  he  had  a  warrant  served  on  each  one  of  them. 
When  the  trial  came  off,  they  were  all  penitent  and  begged 
so  hard  to  be  let  off  that  the  Justice  of  the  Peace  said  he 
would  leave  it  with  Bennie,  as  to  their  punishment.  Bennie 
told  them  that  if  he  had  had  a  g-un,  he  would  have  shot  them 
the  same  as  he  would  have  shot  sheep-killing  dogs,  but  since 
they  had  begged  pardon  and  showed  penitence,  he  would 
forgive  them.  The  principal  dismissed  from  school  the  one 
who  was  to  blame  for  the  occurrence.  Afterwards,  there 
was  nothing  but  the  best  of  feeling  in  the  school,  and  when 
the  spring  term  closed,  all  went  home  to  be  friends  through 
life. 

When  Bennie  reached  home,  the  farm  was  rented  out, 
that  is,  all  the  best  land.  He  was  in  debt  for  most  of  his 
schooling,  for  he  received  very  little  from  home.  He  set 
about  to  tend  a  small  crop  of  corn.  It  was  the  last  week 
in  May  when  he  started  to  work ;  after  getting  ground  ready 
to  plow,  he  took  a  team  and  did  the  plowing,  while  he  got 
some  of  the  old  helpers  to  plant  and  hoe  the  crop.  The  corn 
grew  rapidly  and  soon  hid  the  horse  and  plowman.  It 
proved  too  much  for  his  strength,  and  he  became  too  ill  to 
finish  the  plow  work  and  hired  Uncle  John  Brest  to  lay  the 
crop  by,  which  was  as  fine  or  better  than  any  on  the  farm. 
There  was  more  than  enough  of  the  corn  at  one  dollar  twenty- 
five  cents  per  bushel  to  pay  all  Bennie's  school  debt. 

As  soon  as  he  rested  up,  and  got  stronger,  he  hired  some 
of  the  farm  hands  to  help  him  cut  a  raft  of  timber,  and  while 
it  was  only  common  timber,  it  brought  a  fancy  price,  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  was  on  tidewater  and  was  able  to  get  it  to 
market  at  a  time  when  the  rivers  were  too  low  higher  up  for 
the  timber  cutters  to  float  their  rafts.  The  mills  men  had 
vessels  to  load,  many  on  demurrage,  and  were  so  anxious  for 
timber  that  they  flocked  to  the  raft  and  paid  twice  what 
they  ordinarily  would  have  paid  for  it.     This  was  a  pleasant 


THE  SCHOOL  35 


surprise  for  Benuie,  as  it  enabled  him  to  pay  all  his  expenses 
including  doctor  bills  and  there  was  enough  left  to  buy  his 
clothes  and  pay  the  expenses  of  the  fall  term  of  school  without 
touching  the  balance  of  his  corn,  which  was  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  pay  for  the  spring  term. 

He  was  there  on  time  when  the  next  session  opened,  ready 
and  anxious  to  take  up  his  school  work  again,  though  often 
sick  enough  to  be  in  bed.  However,  under  the  kindly  care 
of  the  old  doctor  of  the  village,  he  wrestled  with  his  pains 
and  studies  and  kept  to  the  front  of  his  class  always.  Great 
kindness  was  shown  him  by  the  school  and  the  people  of  the 
village,  the  sons  of  noble  old  families  often  bringing  him 
beautiful  bouquets  from  some  member  of  the  family;  some 
of  them  were  of  the  family  of  Bennie's  old  pastor.  This 
grand  old  patriot  often  said  that  he  loved  Bennie  and  his 
family  as  well  as  he  did  his  own,  as  they  seemed  one  family 
to  him.  His  first  pastorate  was  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War,  at  the  old  church,  and  he  was  its  pastor  for  twenty- 
eight  years.  Bennie's  father  was  the  church  clerk,  so  no 
two  men  knew  each  other  better,  or  had  greater  affection 
for  each  other. 

At  the  close  of  the  session,  Bennie  had  finished  and  passed 
with  credit  to  himself  and  the  school  on  all  his  work  and  was 
prepared  to  enter  Wake  Forest  in  the  following  fall.  How- 
ever, the  close  confinement  and  hard  work  had  been  a  serious 
tax    on    him    physically,    which    made    necessary    frequent 

attentions  from  old  Dr.  H ,  who  in  his  kindness  saw 

Bennie's  teacher  and  begged  him  to  persuade  Bennie  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  further  pursuing  his  college  work,  as 
he  would  be  dead  in  less  than  two  years  if  he  continued  to 
confine  himself  in  a  school  room.  The  Professor  had  come 
to  the  same  conclusion  but  refrained  from  speaking  about  it 
as  he  knew  the  disappointment  it  would  cause  him,  after  he 
had  finished  up  all  his  work  and  was  waiting  for  the  com- 
mencement. 


36  MEMORIES 


He  had  been  elected  by  the  Debating  Society  to  be  its 
orator,  but  being  one  of  the  principal  speakers  in  the  contest 
before  the  society  with  the  subject:  "Was  the  Character  of 
ISTapoleon  Bonaparte  Worthy  of  Admiration  ?"  and  he  having 
the  affirmative,  and  there  being  an  ambitious  young  man  in 
school  who  was  only  taking  a  law  course,  who  was  anxious 
to  be  the  orator  of  the  day,  Bennie  refused  to  accept  the 
place  and  worked  for  the  law  student  to  be  elected,  which  he 
was,  to  his  great  pleasure.  Wliile  all  expected  a  big  time 
at  the  commencement,  none  were  disappointed,  and  the  hall 
was  packed.  After  the  oration  by  the  orator  of  the  school 
(which  was  very  creditable),  the  question  was  left  to  the 
audience  as  to  which  side  made  the  best  presentation  of  their 
subject  in  the  debate  of  the  Literary  Society.  When  the 
vote  was  taken,  the  affirmative  had  nine  votes  to  one  of  the 
negative,  although  the  affirmative  was  represented  by  two 
farm  boys  and  the  negative  by  a  young  lawyer  and  a  business 
man  of  the  town. 

Bennie's  teacher  had  not  spoken  to  him  about  the  talk 
the  old  doctor  had  with  him  about  advising  him,  not  that 
he  did  not  agree  with  the  old  doctor,  but  hated  to  make  him 
feel  sad,  while  everyone  was  feeling  so  happy  over  the  ex- 
pectation of  a  good  time  at  commencement,  but  when  he 
began  speaking  of  leaving,  the  s^^npathetic  professor  told 
him  that  he  wanted  to  have  a  talk  with  him,  in  his  office. 
When  they  went  up  and  were  seated,  he  began  by  telling 
him  that  he  knew  that  his  bad  health  would  never  allow  him 
to  finish  his  course  through  college,  and  related  what  the  old 
doctor  had  told  him,  and  added  that  he  had  made  up  a  list 
of  books  with  which  he  could  continue  his  education,  as  he 
already  had  the  foundation  well  laid,  and  if  his  health  would 
permit  him  to  finish  college,  he  then  would  not  be  educated, 
as  it  only  served  to  lay  a  foundation,  and  he  would  soon 
learn  that  a  sheep-skin  was  no  true  sign  of  an  education,  as 
one  to  be  educated  in  the  true  sense  had  to  continue  his 


THE  SCHOOL 


study  all  the  time,  as  there  were  always  new  problems  that 
continued  to  come  up  that  needed  one's  attention  as  much 
as  any  lesson  that  the  student  had  previously  studied.  He 
said  that  the  reason  so  many  fail  who  receive  their  diplomas 
was  that  they  failed  to  keep  on  with  their  work. 

"While  he  was  presenting  Bennie  with  his  list  of  books, 
and  advising  him  not  to  jeopardize  his  health  at  the  risk  of 
his  life,  Bennie's  eyes  were  too  dim  to  see  anything  except 
trying  to  keep  the  tears  wiped  away  that  were  running  down 
his  cheeks.  His  train  was  near  due  but  he  was  not  in  any 
mood  to  tell  his  friends  good-bye  as  he  had  promised,  and 
hurrying  through  the  building  trying  to  appear  as  if  he  had 
to  hustle  to  catch  a  train  and  telling  those  who  blocked  the 
aisles  and  porch,  he  put  on  all  the  courage  that  he  could, 
and  went  through  an  unnatural  process  hurrying  to  the  depot, 
there  to  purchase  his  ticket,  leaving  his  friends  in  the  town 
no  doubt  thinking  strange  of  him  for  not  keeping  his  promise. 

Though  against  his  will,  he  decided  to  take  the  good  advice 
that  had  been  given  him.  Arriving  home,  he  began  to  plan 
anew,  as  his  previous  plans  were  all  upset.  A  phrenologist, 
in  reading  his  head,  had  told  him  that  his  strongest  talent 
would  be  as  a  contender  before  the  bar,  that  he  would  pitch 
his  contention  on  high  grounds,  and  would  not  knowingly 
defend  a  willful  wrongdoer,  and  further  said  that  he  would 
have  a  hard  road  to  travel  through  life,  as  his  ideas  were  at 
least  a  quarter  of  a  century  ahead  of  the  ordinary  man,  and 
while  he  would  always  have  opposition,  his  opponents  would 
in  the  end  be  following  him.  He  also  said  that  he  would 
succeed  as  a  farmer  and  stock  raiser  or  in  commercial 
business  or  in  almost  any  calling  that  required  thought  and 
energy. 

THE    OLD    HORSE 

The  kind  old  horse  that  has  so  loug  carried  our  load 
Has  become  so  feeble  that  he  can  no  longer  go. 
Now  to  keep  him,  just  to  see  him  eat, 
Makes  our  selfish  boues  think  it  is  him  we  should  let  others  eat. 


38  MEMORIES 


What  are  we  to  do  with   this  noble  old   sire? 
To  eat  him  is  not  an  honest  man's  desire, 
But  feed  to  many  is  getting  so  high 
Until  we  fear  the  time  for  eating  him  is  drawing  nigh. 

So  what  to  do  with  our  noble  old  horse 
Is   a  problem   we   have   not  yet  solved, 
But  if  the  war  lords  keep  telling  us  what  to  eat 
We  soon  may  expect  them  to  say  old  horse  meat. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    rURCIIASE    OF    THE    FARM 

For  the  time  being,  Bennie  decided  to  take  up  farming,  as 
it  would  give  him  sunshine  and  fresh  air  as  well  as  needed 
exercise.  He  started  his  crop  the  last  of  May,  and  with  the 
boys  he  hired,  made  a  good  crop. 

There  was  a  large  farm  advertised  for  sale  adjoining  his 
father's  and  the  small  farm  given  him  by  his  father.  This 
farm  for  sale  had  belonged  to  Bennie's  uncle,  who  had  died 
in  camp  at  Fort  Fisher  during  the  war,  and  had  been  in  the 
hands  of  an  administrator  for  fourteen  years.  Bennie's 
father  allowed  the  largest  creditor,  rather  than  himself,  to 
settle  the  estate.  This  farm  after  the  slaves  were  freed,  was 
all  there  was  left  out  of  a  large  estate.  His  brother  found 
that  another  had  deeds  for  a  great  portion  of  the  land,  one 
who  had  remained  at  home  during  the  war,  but  as  the  older 
brother  did  not  learn  to  say  "no"  to  his  friends  when  they 
wanted  him  to  sign  their  notes  as  security,  when  payday 
came  after  the  war,  they  found  that  every  note  that  he  had 
signed  had  been  judgmented  against  his  estate,  and  the 
administrator  had  bought  them  up  and  held  them  against 
the  estate,  (in  his  wife's  name),  and  at  the  same  time  had 
not  credited  any  of  the  rent  he  had  collected  on  the  farm. 
Bennie,  knowing  that  his  father  had  gotten  nothing  from  the 
estate,  tried  to  get  him  to  bring  action  and  have  the  adminis- 
trator removed  for  cause,  but  no  one  objected  to  lawsuits  any 
more  than  he  did,  and  said  they  had  taken  all  but  this  farm, 
so  let  him  have  that.  But  Bennie  did  not  give  up,  and  finally 
got  his  father,  who  was  not  able  to  look  after  business,  to  sell 
him  his  interest  in  the  estate.  When  this  was  done,  at  a  mere 
gift,  he  then  brought  suit  to  remove  the  administrator,  who 
had  many  thousands  of  dollars  against  it  in  judgments, 
which  was  first  to  be  paid  and  it  being  doubtful  if  they  could 

[39] 


40  MEMORIES 


be  upset;  but  after  several  trips,  and  contending  nearly  all 
one  night  with  the  administrator,  this  was  accomplished. 
Bennie  thought  that  these  judgments  were  unjust,  as  almost 
all  were  security  money  for  his  uncle's  friends,  given  during 
the  war,  that  could  have  been  paid,  but  no  one  thought  any- 
thing of  them,  or  they  did  not  want  the  currency  in  circula- 
tion, and  nearly  every  one  thought  that  if  the  war  was  lost, 
all  the  old  debts  Avould  be  canceled,  along  with  slavery. 
Knowing  that  he  was  made  a  slave  by  having  to  pay  the 
unjust  judgments  that  were  held  against  his  father,  he  was 
determined  to  save  some  of  the  wreckage  of  his  uncle's  once 
big  estate,  by  not  paying  any  more  than  was  lawful  that  was 
held  by  the  administrator,  and  when  he  had  wrested  the 
remainder  of  the  estate,  which  only  consisted  of  the  farm  of 
about  three  hundred  acres  —  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
acres  cleared  and  tended  every  year  for  fourteen  years,  with 
no  improvements  put  on  by  the  administrator — so  eager  was 
he  to  get  all  that  he  could,  that  when  Bennie  came  in  posses- 
sion of  it  there  was  not  much  hope  of  making  anji:hing  on  it 
until  it  was  drained  and  brought  back  to  its  fertility ;  and 
the  court,  in  turning  it  over  to  him,  appointed  him  commis- 
sioner, which  allowed  him  the  right  to  bid  at  public  auction 
the  same  as  any  one  else.  The  first  year  when  under  his 
charge,  he  advertised,  according  to  law,  that  it  would  be 
rented  on  a  certain  day  to  the  highest  bidder ;  when  the  time 
came,  Bennie's  bid  was  the  highest,  and  he  rented  the  farm 
for  that  year.  After  cleaning  out  the  ditches,  cutting  down 
the  hedges,  etc.,  he  succeeded  in  making  only  a  fair  crop. 
The  next  year  he  again  rented  the  farm  at  the  highest  bid, 
and  kept  on  improving  it,  until  the  improvements  could  be 
seen,  and  when  the  note  and  judgment  owner  saw  that  it  was 
finally  out  of  his  possession,  and  while  his  judginents  would 
come  first,  he  made  Bennie  an  offer  to  sell  his  judgments, 
which  were  found  to  be  in  his  wife's  name,  to  him  or  any  one 
else,  for  a  certain  amount  of  cash.  Bennie  knew  that  he  did 
not  have  anything  like  a  fourth  enough  money  to  pay  for 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  THE  FARM  41 

them,  but  he  went  to  see  his  attorney  for  his  advice.  When 
he  stated  the  case,  he  told  Bennie  to  accept  the  offer,  but 
Bemiie  told  him  that  he  had  no  way  to  raise  the  money, 
that  he  did  not  want  to  mortgage  the  little  farm  that  his 
father  had  given  him,  even  if  he  could  get  enough  on  it  to 
pay  the  judgments,  which  he  had  no  idea  he  could.  After 
a  few  minutes  of  silence,  his  attorney,  who  had  known  him 
from  boyhood,  and  also  his  father,  said  to  him  that  he  had 
two  sisters  who  had  recently  come  into  possession  of  some 
money,  and  believed  that  they  would  lend  him  the  necessary 
amount  to  close  the  trade.  He  added  that  he  would  see  them 
and  let  him  know  at  once,  which  he  did,  and  notified  Bennie 
that  it  was  all  right.  A  date  was  fixed  to  meet  for  the  trans- 
fer, and  when  the  judgments  were  all  transferred,  he  said  to 
Bennie  that  he  would  then  get  an  order  from  court  to  sell 
the  land,  and  have  the  order  made  so  that  he  could  have  the 
right  to  bid  on  the  land  the  same  as  any  one  else,  if  he  so 
decided.  The  order  was  obtained  from  the  court,  and  due 
notices  were  given,  in  the  papers  and  at  other  public  places, 
according  to  law,  when  and  where  the  sale  would  take  place. 
On  the  day  of  sale,  lots  of  people  were  present — many  who 
were  able  to  pay  any  reasonable  price  for  it — and  when  Ben- 
nie saw  them  coming  from  so  far  to  bid  on  the  farm  which 
had  once  been  one  of  the  best  in  the  county,  he  decided  that 
they  would  very  likely  outbid  him.  Before  the  hour  of  the 
sale,  several  of  the  prospective  bidders  called  Bennie's  father 
to  one  side  and  said  to  him  that  they  had  come  to  buy  the 
farm,  but  if  he  wanted  it,  as  it  had  been  his  brother's  and 
adjoined  his  own  land,  he  ought  to  have  the  refusal,  and  they 
would  not  bid  against  him  if  he  was  going  to  bid  on  it.  The 
father,  who  was  broken  in  spirit,  as  well  as  an  invalid,  told 
his  old  friends  that  he  was  not  able  to  buy  it,  but  that  his  son 
was  expecting  to  bid  on  it,  and  he  would  be  glad  to  see  him 
ovni  it,  as  he  had  had  to  pay  his  old  war  judgments,  the  same 
as  this  farm  was  being  sold  foi'.  His  friends,  who  had  come 
expecting  to  buy  it  said  that  they  would  not  run  it  up  on  his 


42  MEMORIES 


son,  as  tliey  thought  that  he  ought  to  have  the  chance  to  buy 
it.  In  a  few  minutes  the  sale  was  on,  with  the  old  friends  of 
his  father's  starting  off  the  bids;  then  others  joined  in  who 
had  no  thought  of  Bennie  but  to  get  the  farm,  if  they  could. 
The  latter,  however,  soon  dropped  out  when  the  first  bidders 
ceased  to  bid.  When  the  auctioneer  gave  notice  of  the  last 
bid,  Bennie  signaled  his  bidder  to  raise  it,  which  he  did. 
No  one  raised  it  after  that,  and  the  property  was  knocked 
down  to  Bennie's  agent,  and  the  court  confirmed  the  sale. 

This  was  in  late  winter,  and  Bemiie  immediately  began 
prejDaration  for  his  crops,  buying  more  teams,  but  not  dis- 
carding his  plow  oxen  and  his  blind  horse,  that  were  his  best 
friends  on  the  farm.  He  made  better  crops  each  year,  and 
as  prices  kept  up  fairly  well,  it  enabled  him  to  begin  paying- 
some  each  year  on  his  notes.  In  the  meantime,  when  his 
crops  were  laid  by,  he  would  begin  cutting  telegTaph  poles, 
timber,  shingles,  etc.,  in  order  to  help  pay  the  debt  on  the 
farm,  which  was  knocked  down  for  less  than  Bennie  had 
paid  for  the  judgments.  He  continued  to  improve  it  until, 
as  the  older  ones  told  him,  it  began  to  look  like  it  did  when 
there  were  plenty  of  slaves  to  work  it.  He  was  busy  six  days 
in  the  week,  as  a  rule,  from  sunrise  to  dark,  most  of  the  time. 
After  supper  he  would  often  take  his  horse  and  ride  several 
miles,  getting  hands  for  a  rush  of  work. 

His  sisters  had  both  married  and  moved  away,  and  it  was 
lonesome  at  the  old  home  with  only  his  parents  and  himself. 
However,  he  did  not  suffer  for  company  so  much,  as  there 
were  lots  of  young  people  in  and  out.  Mindful  of  the  advice 
of  his  old  friend  and  teacher,  he  spent  as  much  time  as  pos- 
sible with  his  books.  Often  he  would  go  to  his  room,  light 
his  lamp,  and  enjoy  the  company  of  the  finest  companions 
the  world  has  produced. 

About  the  time  he  reached  his  majority,  he  was  appointed 
as  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  his  township,  a  position  he  did 
not  want,  but,  being  persuaded  to  serve,  decided  to  do  so. 
Soon  every  little  frivolous  thing  that  happened  would  be 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  THE  FARM  43 


brought  to  him  for  adjustment.  If  he  could  uot  persuade 
them^  to  settle  the  matter,  he  would  cite  them  for  a  hearing, 
and  when  both  sides  were  heard,  he  could  then  see  who  was 
in  the  wrong-,  which  was  often  both.  He  would  then  try  to 
show  them  that  they  were  foolish  in  disagreeing  over  matters 
that  they  should  be  ashamed  of,  and,  if  possible,  get  them  to 
agree  on  a  settlement,  when  he  would  dismiss  the  case,  with- 
out charge  or  cost.  If  they  refused  to  agree,  he  followed  the 
rule  of  his  father,  who  was  a  magistrate  for  years,  and  sent 
them  to  another  magistrate,  who  would  eagerly  try  the  case 
and  never  forget  to  collect  his  fees.  It  mattered  not  which 
one  lost  the  case,  the  cost  had  to  come;  if  not  by  the  loser, 
then  by  the  winner,  if  he  was  able  to  pay  it. 

Helping  the  cow  with  her  adopted  calf,  Little  Bell, 
Seeing  that  she  gets  plenty  to  eat  of  the  tenderest  grass, 
Is  a  duty  we  must  perform,  whether  we  feel  right  or  wrong. 
The  table,  as  the  calf,  must  be  supplied,  or  the  cook  becomes  riled. 

The  cook  often  claims  the  calf  gets  too  much  milk, 
When  the  puny  calls  for  things  they  have  not  to  eat. 
To  supply  the  calf  and  those  who  meat  they  cannot  eat. 
Keeps  the  old  cow  busy  finding  things  suitable  to  eat. 

Little  Bell,  the  orphan,  had  a  mother  refined, 
Being  of  noble  birth,  also  excelled  in  intrinsic  worth. 
We  expect  in  Little  Bell  the  trait  of  her  ancestors  to  tell, 
Like  man,  noble  blood  in  beast  will  for  generations  dwell. 

The  little  boys  once  had  time  the  cows  to  watch. 
Now  have  more  of  other  things  than  they  can  do. 
Which  increases  the  burden  upon  those  who  are  doing  their  best, 
As  the  cruel  war  gives  neither  mind  or  body  any  time  to  rest. 

Bennie  threw  consternation  into  one  of  these  courts  one 
day,  when  old  Uncle  Harry,  one  of  his  father's  old  slaves, 
came  to  him  and  told  him  that  he  had  bought  a  horse  from 
one  of  the  merchants  and  had  paid  the  purchase  price  agreed 
upon,  and  that  the  merchant  had  gotten  out  some  kind  of 
papers,  sent  to  his  home  and  took  the  horse  away  and  deliv- 


44  MEMORIES 


ered  him  back  to  the  man  the  old  slave  had  bought  him  from. 
Bemiie  asked  the  old  man  if  he  had  receipts  for  all  the  money 
that  he  had  paid  on  the  horse;  he  replied  that  he  did,  but  did 
not  have  them  with  him  then,  as  they  were  at  his  home,  and 
the  trial  was  set  for  2  :30  that  afternoon.  As  a  rule,  Bennie 
never  went  around  a  court  unless  he  had  special  business 
there,  but  he  told  the  old  slave  that  he  would  be  on  hand  to 
see  what  they  purposed  to  do,  and  he  sent  the  old  man  after 
his  receipts.  He  knew  that  the  justice  of  the  peace  was  as 
putty  in  the  hands  of  his  friends,  and  he  wanted  to  prevent 
an  injustice  being  done  to  the  old  slave,  who  begged  him  to 
please  keep  them  from  taking  his  horse  away.  He  met  him 
at  the  place  of  trial  at  2  o'clock,  and,  on  looking  through 
his  receipts,  found  that  he  had  paid  what  he  said  he  agreed 
to  pay  for  the  horse.  When  the  trial  was  called,  the  justice  of 
the  peace  stated  the  nature  of  the  case.  Bennie  then  asked 
the  court  how  much  the  defendant  was  to  pay  for  the  horse ; 
the  answer  corroborated  with  the  statement  of  the  old  slave. 
After  asking  a  few  more  questions  that  seemed  to  upset  the 
plaintiff,  as  well  as  the  justice  of  the  peace,  Bennie  was  asked 
if  he  had  license  to  practice  law  before  the  court,  they  know- 
ing very  well  that  he  did  not.  He  told  them  he  didn't,  but 
had  come  there  to  assist  the  helpless  old  man  as  best  he  could. 
After  that,  every  question  asked  was  treated  as  though  it  was 
none  of  his  business,  but  it  threw  a  surprise  into  the  court 
when  he  produced  the  receipts,  as  there  was  no  denying  them. 
There  was  a  claim  of  a  balance  due  on  a  store  account,  but 
the  horse  had  been  paid  for,  as  the  old  slave  was  shrewd 
enough  to  have  each  payment  marked  paid  on  the  horse, 
acting  on  the  advice  Bennie  had  given  him  when  he  had 
rented  him  shingle  timber  in  order  to  get  out  shingles  to  pay 
for  the  horse.  Even  this,  however,  did  not  deter  the  court 
from  giving  judgTQent  against  the  old  slave,  which  carried 
the  horse  back  to  its  orginal  owner.  When  this  was  done, 
Bennie  asked  for  an  appeal  to  the  higher  court  for  the  old 
negTO,    and    said    tluit    he    would    stand    his    bond.     When 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  THE  FARM  4r> 


court  adjourned,  both  returned  to  their  homes,  the  latter 
without  his  horse.  In  a  few  days,  realizing  what  they  would 
have  to  face  in  a  higher  court,  they  sent  for  the  old  slave 
to  come  get  his  horse,  which  he  lost  no  time  in  doing,  and  the 
matter  ended  there. 

The  kind  feeling  that  was  held  by  the  slave  owaiers,  with 
few  exceptions,  was  always  one  of  sympathy,  and  it  exists 
today.  Many  of  the  younger  generation  who  were  born  since 
slavery  and  did  not  have  the  dicipline  of  the  old  slave  when 
being  raised  and  who  were  allowed  to  run  at  large,  work  or 
play,  are  the  ones  you  will  always  find  in  trouble.  As  a 
rule,  the  old  slave  is  a  law-abiding  citizen,  and  is  liked  by 
those  who  know  him.  It  always  worried  Bennie  to  wonder 
what  would  become  of  the  younger  race  of  negToes,  they 
being  so  different  from  the  white  race.  A  more  antagonistic 
spirit  seems  to  be  developing  between  the  races  which  is 
likely  to  lead  to  serious  consequences.  Nothing  but  the  high 
hand  of  Providence  can  settle  this  vexed  question. 

Cunning  politicians  have  ridden  into  office  on  the  negro's 
back,  first,  when  he  was  allowed  to  vote,  by  controlling  the 
election,  and  the  ballot  boxes  and  counting  the  votes  for 
themselves,  and  their  party.  Then,  since  he  has  been  dis- 
franchised, they  still  ride  into  office  on  him,  claiming  the 
negro  will  vote  themselves  in  power,  and  rule  the  white 
people  if  the  whites  do  not  continue  to  vote  their  ticket. 
Notwithstanding  that,  there  are  about  four  to  five  white 
votes  to  every  negro  vote,  and  all  thinking  people  know  that 
there  is  no  danger  of  negro  rule.  Yet  they,  with  the  papers 
that  they  control,  have  been  so  foul  in  their  denunciation  and 
misrepresentation,  heaping  all  manner  of  abuse,  even  ostraciz- 
ing, when  they  can,  those  who  would  dare  to  vote  any  other 
than  their  party  ticket,  often  classing  those  who  dare  to  vote 
their  convictions  as  white  negroes.  Of  course  the  non- 
thinkers  generally  vote  against  themselves  instead  of  voting 
for  men  and  measures  that  would  be  to  their  interest.  While 
party  is  all  well  to  work  through  to  accomplish  worthy  pur- 


46  MEMORIES 


poses,  yet  parties,  when  they  get  so  foul  for  the  reason  of 
selfish  interests  controlling  them,  ought  to  be  rebuked  by 
voting  them  out,  until  party  becomes  honest  representatives  of 
the  people.  The  following  will  better  describe  the  non-think- 
ing man: 

There  is  a  man  too  lazy  to  think  for  liimself 

And  always  he  leaves  it  to  others. 
And  when  things  go  wrong  he  whoops  and  he  whines 

And  places  the  blame  on  his  brothers. 

And  there's  another — may  God  save  the  race — 
Whose  mind  has  become  a  pure  blank, 

By  reason  of  letting  his  brain  cells  go  dry, 
And  the  weed  of  his  ignorance  grow  rank. 

The  all-wise  Creator,  who  allowed  the  negro  to  be  brought 
here,  no  doubt  to  civilize  and  Christianize  him,  will 
eventually  take  him  back  to  his  former  land  to  help  civilize 
and  Christianize  the  ''dark  continent."  When  this  is  brought 
to  pass,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
white  race  will  not  be  disfranchised  at  the  dictates  of  the 
special  interests,  in  order  that  it  will  not  cost  them  so  much 
worry  and  money  to  keep  in  control.  When  the  negroes  go 
back  to  their  home,  may  their  shadows  cease  to  fall  on  the 
whites,  who  have  been  so  long  trimmed  by  common  self-seek- 
ing office  hunters. 

THE  SPECIAL  INTERESTS  PAPER 

FOR  THE  TOWNS,  CITIES  AND  STATES  THAT 
LET   SPECIAL  INTERESTS  DOMINATE 

The  Government  now  by  the  Press  is  run, 
Often  by  the  politician  who  just  starts  out  to  have  some  fun, 
But  as  soon   as   the  power  of  the  paper  is  won 
The  traps  and  snares  for  them  has  just  begun. 

Some  by  the  masses  and  their  country  stand 
While  many   follow   after  Press   tooteriug  bands. 
Ready    to    sell    themselves    and    country    complete. 
For  money,  influence,  or  any  old  thing  that  looks  to  them  sweet. 


THE  PURCHASE  OF  THE  FARM  47 


It  is  sad  that  the  Press  to  the  people  that  once  stood  so  high, 
Is  lioney-combed  by  treachery  and  to  traitors  so  nigh, 
All  because  the  money  trust  over  them  controls, 
And  only  let  the  editors  tell  the  people  what  they  want  them  to  know. 

See  the  cities  where  special  interests  control. 
They  have  their  papers  and  certain  politicians  they  know. 
If  one  is  honest  and   the  people  he  would  serve, 
These  same  papers  will  soon  have  him  on  his  nerve. 

The  special  interests  papers  select  their  man 
And  soon  commence  to  praise  him  to  beat  the  band. 
The  masses  soon  chime  in  to  help  elect  this  popular  man, 
When  they  awake  to  where  they  stand,  they  find  they  are  already 
canned. 

When  in  the  halls  of  legislation   their  popular  man  they  land, 
These  same  papers  sing  his  praise  to  every  man. 
At  the  same  time  around  their  popular  man  they  stand, 
Until  he  gets  for  them  about  everything  in  our  broad  land. 

See  the  propagandists  from  foreign  lauds, 
Who  through  greed  have  sunk  their  ship,  have  ours  on  drifting  sand, 
Now  trying  to  persuade  us  to  join  their  teacherous  game 
By  destroying  truth,   justice,   and  fame,   for  morbid   gain. 


CHAPTEE  VII 

BUSINESS    EXPERIENCES    IN    THE    CITY 

In  the  fall  of  the  fourth  year  after  Bemiie  had  bought  his 
farm,  and  was  about  ready  to  begin  gathering,  one  evening, 
about  sundown,  a  stranger  drove  up  to  his  home.  He  intro- 
duced himself  and  stated  that  he  had  been  directed  to  come 
there  as  a  good  place  to  spend  the  night  and  asked  if  he 
could  stay.  As  Bennie  had  never  seen  a  stranger  turned 
away,  nor  ever  charged  for  being  taken  care  of,  the  stranger 
was  told  that  he  might  stay  all  night.  On  leaving  next 
morning,  he  inquired  the  way  to  a  certain  place  in  the 
adjoining  county,  which  was  about  twenty  miles  distant. 
Bennie  told  him  that  he  was  going  by  the  same  place  to  a 
point  beyond,  and  the  stranger  was  delighted  to  know  that 
he  would  have  a  guide.  Bennie  told  him  that  he  had  to 
settle  with  his  hands  and  w^ould  then  be  ready  to  go.  By 
nine  o'clock  they  were  on  their  journey;  when  a  half-mile 
from  home  Bennie  proposed  that  they  go  through  his  field, 
as  it  would  save  them  three  miles  in  distance.     When  they 

were  in  the  middle  of  the  farm,  among  the  crops,  Mr.  W 

asked  whose  farm  it  was;  on  being  told,  he  exclaimed  that 
if  he  had  a  farm  like  this  one,  he  would  be  perfectly  happy. 
Bennie  had  learned  enough  from  him  to  know  that  he  was  the 
head  manager  of  a  big  business  in  a  nearby  city,  and  that 
he  had  a  big  office  force  under  him,  and  he  told  him  that 
he  was  thinking  of  going  to  the  city  as  soon  as  he  could 
gather  his  crop  to  remain  at  least  until  the  first  of  March, 
when  he  would  start  his  crop  for  another  year,  and  asked 

Mr.  W if  he  didn't  have  a  place  in  his  ofiice  that  he 

could  give  him,  which  very  much  surprised  him.  He  wanted 
to  know  why  he  wanted  to  go  anywhere,  when  he  had  such 
a  farm  as  that.  Bennie  replied  that  he  wanted  to  see  more 
of  the  world  and  get  more  experience,  that  there  was  no  one 
[48] 


BUSINESS  EXPERIENCES  IN  THE  CITY  4!1 

at  homo  except  liis  parents  and  tlie  servant  and  that  he  wonld 
like  to  spend  a  few  months  in  the  city,  as  a  change.     Mr. 

W could  hardly  believe  that  he  was  in  earnest,  b\it 

when  he  found  that  he  was  sincere,  he  told  him  that  he  had 
only  one  vacant  place  in  his  office  and  that  was  as  bookkeeper, 
which  was  being  filled  temporarily  by  one  of  the  regular 
clerks.  Bemiie  told  him  that  he  had  never  kept  books,  except 
with  his  farm  hands,  but  that  he  would  be  glad  to  take  the 
place,  if  he  Avould  give  it  to  him,  after  he  finished  harvesting. 

Mr.  W said  that  he  would  hold  the  place  open  three 

weeks.  Bennie  thanked  him  and  asked  how  much  it  paid 
and  was  told  that  it  paid  nine  dollars  per  week.     Bennie 

then  inquired  if  that  would  pay  his  board  and  Mr.  W 

assured  him  that  it  would,  as  he  was  getting  good  board  and 
room  for  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  week. 

On  the  day  that  Bennie  told  Mr.  W — ■ he  would  be 

there,  he  was  on  hand.  In  the  afternoon,  about  four-thirty, 
he  found  the  office,  walked  in  with  grip  in  hand,  and  asked 

one  of  the  clerks  if  Mr.  W was  in.     He  answered, 

^'Yes,  back  in  the  private  office."  Bennie  felt  lost  and  not 
very  buoyant,  especially  seeing  the  clerks  watching  him  and 
no  doubt  wondering  what  the  gawky  countryman  wanted. 
On  entering  the  office,  he  spoke  to  the  manager,  addressing 

him  as  Mr.  W .     He  looked  up  at  Bennie  and  said, 

"I  must  have  seen  your  face  somewhere  before,  but  cannot 
locate  you."  Bennie  asked  if  he  didn't  remember  being  at 
a  certain  place  and  of  promising  him  a  job  as  bookkeeper. 
AVliereupon  he  got  out  of  his  chair,  and  said  that  he  had  no 
idea  that  he  would  ever  come  off  that  farm.  In  answer  to 
Bennie's  inquiry  about  the  place  promised,  he  told  him  that 
a  substitute  was  handling  the  work  and  that  he  could  have 
it  if  he  wanted  it.  Bennie  thanked  him,  adding  that  he 
was  gTeen  at  the  business  and  would  like  for  him  to  help 
him  get  started.  He  agreed  to  do  this,  saying  that  as  the  ledger 
was  ruled  for  different  entries  in  different  columns,  he  could 
4 


50  MEMORIES 


soon  catch  on.  He  then  asked  Bennie  to  have  a  seat  and 
as  soon  as  the  office  force  left,  he  would  start  him  off  on  the 
books.  At  six  o'clock  everyone  was  hustling  for  their  coats, 
hats,  etc.,  and  the  boss  and  new  bookkeeper  were  left  alone, 
and  the  first  lesson  in  bookkeeping  began.  It  was  the  first 
set  of  such  books  Bennie  had  ever  looked  into,  but  he  learned 
more  in  that  short  hour  than  he  ever  learned  in  so  short 
a  time,  before  or  since,  because  he  knew  that  his  job  depended 
on  remembering  all  that  was  being  told. 

As  Bennie  and  his  new  boss  were  leaving  the  office,  he 
asked  him  if  he  knew  of  a  good  place  where  he  could  get 

board.     Mr.  W replied  that  he  had  a  nice  place  and 

that  it  might  be  possible  for  him  to  get  board  at  the  same 
place,  although  they  were  pretty  well  crow^ded,  but  to  bring 
his  valise  along  and  he  would  do  the  best  he  could  for  him. 
On  reaching  the  house,  about  four  blocks  distant,  he  called 
for  the  landlady  and  after  introducing  his  new  bookkeeper, 
asked  if  she  could  take  him  as  a  boarder.  She  answered 
that  she  would  gladly  do  so,  but  every  room  in  the  building 
was  occupied,  still  she  could  give  him  table  board  if  he  could 

get  a  room  nearby.     She  also  told  Mr.  W that  he  had 

one  of  the  largest  rooms  in  the  house  but  that  he  objected 

to  anyone  else  having  a  bed  in  it  with  him.     Mr.  W 

said  that  was  true,  but  he  would  make  an  exception  of  this 
case  and  told  the  landlady  if  she  would  put  a  bed  in  the 
room  for  his  new  friend,  he  would  have  no  objection.  She 
said  that  she  would  put  one  while  they  were  eating  supper, 
as  she  had  some  ready  in  the  house.  The  room  was  nice 
and  comfortable,  and  a  warm  friendship  between  the  two 
began,  one  a  Yankee,  who  was  considered  by  the  rest  of  the 
boarders  as  being  a  selfish  person  who  cared  for  no  one  but 
himself,  ^vhich  was  all  wrong,  as  they  had  held  off,  expecting 
him  to  do  all  the  advancing. 

The  next  morning  they  were  at  the  office  by  eight  o'clock. 
The  l^oss  told  the  substitute  bookkeeper  that  he  had  gotten 


BUSINESS  EXPERIENCES  IN  THE  CITY  51 

this  young  man  to  take  the  books,  and  that  he  would  take 
up  the  work  that  he  was  doing-  before  he  took  the  books,  and 
asked  him  to  assist  the  new  man  whenever  he  needed  help. 
Bennie,  having  watched  so  closely  all  that  he  was  shown  the 
night  before,  did  not  need  assistance;  besides,  he  thought 
he  could  see  a  spirit  of  jealousy  among  the  older  clerks  and 
for  this  reason  he  was  determined  to  get  along  without  call- 
ing on  them.  The  work  became  easier  until  he  had  no 
trouble  with  it ;  he  remained  at  the  office  each  day  until  he 
had  completed  the  work  for  that  day. 

As  the  boss  and  new  bookkeeper  learned  more  of  each 
other,  quite  a  change  began  to  come  over  the  cold  Yankee — 
as  he  was  called  by  the  boarding-house  family  The  new 
roomer  was  soon  on  good  terms  with  all  in  the  house  and  it 
was  quite  an  agreeable  family. 

It  was  in  November  when  Bennie  began  his  first  and  only 
work  for  another,  except  the  three  months  he  spent  in  the 
magic  lantern  business.  One  day  the  manager  came  out  of 
his  office  and  said  to  the  bookkeeper :  "I  want  you  to  go  with 
the  driver  out  to  a  certain  street  and  number  and  bring  in 
a  machine  that  the  party  refuses  to  pay  for,"  He  further 
said  that  those  that  he  had  instructed  to  get  the  machine 
had  failed  to  do  so.     The  bookkeeper  looked  up  at  him  and 

said :    "Mr.  W — ■ ,  I  want  you  to  discharge  me."     "Why 

do  you  say  that  ?"  the  manager  asked,  Bennie  replied  that 
he  did  not  want  to  go  with  the  wagoner  to  get  the  machine, 
as  he  was  offered  more  than  three  times  the  salary  he  was 
getting  to  become  an  agent  for  the  company,  but  had  declined 
it  rather  than  haul  sewing  machines  around  for  sale,  though 

he  would  not  blame  Mr,  W if  he  discharged  him.     The 

manager  did  not  say  anything  but  Bennie  would  not  have 
been  surprised  that  night  had  he  been  told  that  his  services 
were  no  longer  needed.  The  incident  was  never  mentioned 
again  after  that,  and  things  went  on  in  fine  shape. 

He  would  often  see  his  father's  old  friend.  Captain , 

who  lived  at  the  village  on  the  river  bank  and  owned  and 


MEMORIES 


ran  a  steamboat  regularly  from  his  home  to  the  city,  carrying- 
passengers  and  freight.  With  an  interest  always  manifested 
in  him,  he  would  give  him  advice  as  if  he  were  his  own  child. 
One  day  he  said  to  Bennie :  ''There  is  one  of  the  best  open- 
ings in  this  city  for  an  honest  commission  man,  to  handle 
country  produce  and  other  things  that  are  shipped  here,  and 
I  have  been  thinking  it  would  be  the  very  thing  for  you, 
and  I  want  you  to  think  about  it,  and  if  you  will  go  into 
it,  I  can  throw^  into  your  hands  lots  of  produce  to  sell,  as 
everybody  who  knows  you  has  confidence  in  you  and  there 
will  be  no  doubt  that  you  will  succeed  from  the  beginning. 
Think  it  over  and  let  me  know."  This  was  quite  a  surprise 
to  Bennie,  as  he  fully  intended  going  back  to  the  farm  the 
first  of  March,  but  he  then  began  to  think  over  the  advice 
from  the  captain  whom  he  knew  could  be  of  great  help  to 
him,  should  he  decide  to  embark  in  the  new  business.  After 
two  or  three  weeks  he  saw  Captain  again,  who  in- 
quired what  he  had  decided  upon.  Bennie  told  him  he  was 
seriously  thinking  of  going  into  it,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year.  His  old  friend  put  his  hand  on  his  shoulder,  saying: 
"I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  and  I  will  begin  to  tell  the  people 
about  it,  so  they  can  know  to  whom  to  ship."  After  going 
back  to  his  place  of  business  he  began  to  think  it  was  his 
duty  to  notify  his  boss  of  the  decision,  but  concluded  to 
wait  until  all  the  clerks  left  at  six  o'clock,  when  they  would 
be  alone  in  the  office.  Just  before  they  left  for  their  board- 
ing house,  he  mustered  up  courage  enough  and  told  him  of 
his  intentions,  so  that  he  might  have  time  to  secure  another 
bookkeeper.  After  hearing  his  plans,  the  manager  told  him 
that  it  would  never  do,  for  he  had  already  recommended 
him  to  the  main  office  of  the  factory  for  appointment  as 
manager  at  a  thriving  towai  near  the  size  of  the  city  where 
he  was,  at  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars 
a  month  and  a  commission  of  fifteen  per  cent  on  all  sales 
that  w^ere  made  by  the  nine  to  eleven  salesmen  that  worked 


BUl^iyKlSS  EXPERlENCEii  IN  THE  CITY 


from  that  office.  The  commission,  he  added,  would  he  at 
least  as  much  as  the  salary,  and  that  he  could  depend  on  the 
appointment. 

This  was  another  surprise  to  Bennie,  who  had  no  thought 
of  such  promotion,  hut  he  had  told  the  Captain  that  he 
would  embark  in  the  new  business  at  the  first  of  the  year. 
He  was  sorely  troubled,  as  he  looked  upon  one  as  a  certainty, 
the  other  to  be  tried  out.  After  thinking  a  bit,  he  asked 
the  manager :  ^'Suppose  I  should  accept  the  position  you 
say  I  can  have  and  should  make  good,  would  they  later  send 

me  somewhere  else  ?"    Mr.  W replied  that  as  he  grew 

in  the  business,  they  would  keep  transferring  him  to  larger 
cities,  always  with  increased  salary,  that  in  five  years  he 
might  be  in  a  city  of  several  hundred  thousand  people,  draw- 
ing anywhere  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  salary, 
as  the  salary  always  followed  the  worth  of  the  manager  to 
the  company.  While  this  was  a  flattering  offer,  and  one  to 
be  proud  of,  Bennie  asked  that  he  be  given  a  week  to  think 
it  over.  He  pondered  it  continually,  but  when  his  mind 
returned  to  his  father,  who  was  old  and  almost  helpless,  so 
far  as  looking  after  business  was  concerned,  and  of  his  mother, 
who  was  far  from  strong,  he  felt  that  his  first  duty  was  to 
look  after  them.  He  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  being  so 
far  from  them  that  he  could  not  run  up  to  see  them  two 
or  three  times  a  month,  nor  hear  from  them  every  few  days 
by  those  who  came  to  the  city  from  the  neighborhood,  which 
gave  him  the  opportunity  of  sending  them  any  little  thing 
that  he  thought  they  might  enjoy. 

Taking  everything  into  consideration,  Bennie  fully  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  could  not  accept  the  offer,  much  as  he 
appreciated  it,  so  when  the  week  was  out  that  he  had  asked 
for  in  which  to  think  the  matter  over,  he  told  his  friend 
that  he  had  decided  to  remain  near  home,  to  be  near  his 
helpless  father.  A  look  of  more  than  sadness  came  over  the 
manager's  face,  who  had  become  much  attached  to  him.  He 
told  Bennie  that  he  was  gTcatly  disappointed,  as  his  appoint- 


54  MEMORIES 


ment  had  come  in  last  night's  inaih  However,  he  wished 
him  well  in  his  new  undertaking  and  added  that  he  did  not 
doubt  that  he  would  do  well.  Beunie  was  only  in  the  office 
about  one  week  longer ;  when  the  time  came  to  say  good-bye, 
it  was  sad  for  the  manager  and  himself. 

After  spending  two  weeks  at  home  with  his  parents, 
arranging  with  his  tenants  to  work  the  farm,  he  went  back 
to  the  city,  to  occupy  the  building  he  had  rented  to  conduct 
his  new  business  in.  It  was  only  a  few  days  after  his 
advertisement  appeared  in  the  paper  before  produce  of  every 
kind  began  to  pour  in.  The  Captain  brought  in  big  con- 
signments which,  with  the  other  shipments,  made  more  than 
he  could  attend  to  alone  and  he  had  to  hire  help. 

A  big  man,  in  heart  as  well  as  in  stature,  had  moved  near 
Bennie's  home  a  few  years  before  he  went  to  the  city.  This 
man  ran  four  large  stores  and  seemed  to  take  a  liking  to 
Bennie,  and  began  to  ship  him  not  only  all  of  his  country 
produce,  but  lighters  loaded  with  shingles,  often  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  shingles  at  a  time,  to  be  sold.  That  was 
the  beginning  of  giving  him  the  control  of  the  shingle  market 
in  the  city  as  long  as  he  did  business. 

When  he  embarked  in  his  new  undertaking,  his  old  friend, 
the  Captain,  had  on  his  boat  a  young  boy,  as  his  mate,  near 
Bennie's  own  age.  After  a  few  years,  he  bought  a  boat 
and  ran  up  to  the  head  of  navigation,  making  two  trips  a 

week.     Captain  B saw  that  Bennie  got  all  that  he 

could  get  from  his  run.  AVhen  the  business  grew  so  far 
beyond  expectation,  and  so  many  orders  were  sent  to  him  to 
buy  for  people  who  shipped,  and  often  for  the  people  who  had 
no  produce  to  ship  but  would  send  their  order  and  money 
for  him  to  buy  for  them,  he  soon  saw  the  need  of  a  stock 
of  goods  and  a  larger  store  in  which  to  fill  his  orders  more 
conveniently.  He  then  secured  a  larger  building,  but  when  he 
began  to  count  up  the  cost  of  the  stock  needed,  he  saw  that  his 
funds  were  lacking.  One  of  the  large  merchants  of  the  city, 
Mr.  H ,  who  filled  Bennie's  orders,  and  waited  on  liim  for 


ins/XI'JSS  EXI'KJx'lENCE.^  J .\'   THE  CITY  55 

the  pay  while  he  was  struggling  on  the  farm,  went  to  him  and 
proposed  to  fill  his  store  up  with  anything  he  wanted.  It  was 
agreed  upon  to  give  him  part  of  his  order,  and  when  the  goods 

all  came  in,  he  saw  that  Mr.  II had  sent  a  good  many 

things  that  were  not  put  down  on  his  memorandum.  When 
he  went  to  see  about  it,  he  was  told  that  they  were  not  to  be 
paid  for  until  they  were  sold,  and  if  any  could  not  be  sold, 
they  could  be  returned.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the 
annoyance  of  the  drummers,  and  while  he  never  bothered 
to  give  any  statement  to  the  commercial  agents,  he  was  put 
down  as  number  one  for  all  that  he  bought,  but  he  soon 
learned  that  buying  right  was  half  sold  to  start  with,  and 
while  he  was  always  busy,  he  was  never  too  busy  to  give  a 
drummer  a  few  minutes  to  see  his  goods,  and  get  his  prices, 
either  at  the  moment  he  came  in  or  a  little  later.  He  would 
take  anything  offered  at  attractive  prices,  if  he  saw  that  he 
could  sell  it,  and  pass  on  the  things  he  did  not  need.  He 
soon  became  known  by  the  drummers  and  brokers  as  a  close 
buyer,  never  appearing  anxious  to  buy,  as  he  let  the  drummer 
have  that  part  of  the  job.  Often  when  the  salesman  would  cut 
to  his  limit  from  his  importers,  as  Bennie  soon  found  that  he 
could  buy  as  cheap  as  the  jobber,  he  would  make  him  an 
offer  to  submit,  sometimes  by  letter  or  wire  if  the  goods  were 
needed  at  once,  and  often  he  got  them  at  his  offer.  In  this 
way  he  could  meet  prices  of  any  of  the  large  jobbers  that  his 
men  or  brokers,  whom  he  had  in  most  all  towns,  would  come 
into  competition  with. 

For  the  first  three  or  four  years  he  both  retailed  and  whole- 
saled. ^Vhile  in  the  retail  business,  he  captured  most  of  the 
vessel  trade  that  came  to  the  city.  As  the  principal  ship- 
broker's  office  was  next  door  to  his,  he  managed  to  get  on  the 
good  side  of  the  old  gentleman  and  his  sons,  and  soon  had 
their  customers'  trade,  as  there  was  always  a  vessel  in  port 
that  had  not  finished  loading.  The  captains  would  tell  their 
brother   captains    where   was    the   best    place   to  buy    their 


56  MEMORIES 


supplies.  There  is  no  attaclimeut  strouger  than  seamen  hold 
for  each  other.  Their  own  perils  give  them  s_^anpathv  for 
their  brothers  of  the  same  calling. 

About  this  time  he  was  having  all  the  trade  that  he  and 
his  help  could  well  look  after,  and  had  partly  filled  orders 
one  day  for  eight  or  nine  vessels  that  were  in  port.  Being 
in  February  and  a  dry  stormy  day,  the  mischievous  office  boy 
of  the  ship-broker's  went  out  behind  the  building  to  shoot  off 
a  cannon  that  he  had  made.  He  had  bought  a  half  pound 
of  powder  and  poured  it  into  the  cannon ;  then  packing  his 
wadding,  he  applied  the  torch  but  the  wind  blew  it  out.  He 
then  got  a  coal  and  put  his  mouth  near  enough  to  blow  it 
and  ignite  the  powder.  When  the  powder  caught,  the  cannon 
exploded,  knocking  the  boy  down,  singeing  his  hair  and  eye- 
brows off,  and  leaving  him  senseless.  The  fire  ignited  the 
heaps  of  paper,  and,  fanned  by  a  heavy  wind,  the  ship- 
broker's  office  was  soon  afire  and  the  flames  spread  rapidly  to 
Bonnie's  store.  As  it  was  Saturday,  Bennie  had  gone  up  to 
his  boarding  house  for  an  early  supper.  While  at  the  table, 
he  heard  the  fire  bell  ringing,  but  paid  no  attention  to  it, 
until  someone  came  in  and  said  that  the  fire  was  near  his 
store.  As  soon  as  he  heard  that,  he  was  up  from  the  table 
and  was  running  to  the  fire.  Just  before  he  got  there,  he 
met  an  old  negro  running  with  a  box  of  tobacco  under  each 
arm.  Bennie  knew  him,  as  he  had  often  given  him  small 
jobs  around  the  store,  and  he  called  out :  "Johnson,  what  are 
you  doing  with  that  tobacco  ?"  "Oh,  Mr.  Bennie,  your  store 
is  on  fire!"  "Well,  what  are  you  doing  with  that  tobacco?" 
he  asked.  "Nothing,  only  I  am  going  to  save  it  for  you," 
was  the  answer.  He  afterwards  claimed  that  he  carried  it 
back,  which  was  doubtful,  as  it  was  never  seen  by  anyone  at 
the  store. 

Bonnie's  hopes  were  cut  down  as  he  remembered  that  he 
had  only  one  thousand  dollars  insurance  on  his  entire  stock 
of  goods,  which  was  taken  out  when  he  first  went  into 
business,  as  he  thought  it  was  useless  to  pay  out  money  for 


BUSINESS  EXPERIENCES  IX  THE  CITY 


iusurauce  on  a  building  that  had  been  standing  twenty-five 
years,  but  too  late  he  saw  his  mistake.  The  news  was  flashed 
all  over  the  country  about  the  fire  and  the  amount  of 
insurance. 

Bennie  had  agreed  to  take  in  an  old  man  who  claimed 
that  he  would  put  in  the  business  many  thousand  dollars. 
After  he  had  been  there  two  months  he  had  only  put  in  three 
hundred  dollars ;  when  Bennie  told  him  to  put  in  the  amount 
agreed  upon,  he  said,  "Why  man,  what  do  we  need  it  for? 
We  are  buying  all  the  goods  we  need  and  paying  for  them  as 
the  bills  become  due."  Bennie  told  him  that  he  wanted  the 
money  so  that  they  could  pay  cash,  to  get  the  discount,  and  if 
he  wanted  a  partnership  with  him,  he  must  put  up  the 
money. 

The  first  thing  that  Bennie  did  was  to  go  over  his  books, 
to  see  how  much  he  owed,  and  how  much  was  owing  him  and 
find  out  the  amount  of  his  bank  account,  then  he  began  to 
figure  the  percentage  his  total  resources  would  allow  him  to 
pay  on  the  bills  of  his  creditors.  When  the  old  would-be 
partner  saw  Bennie's  purpose,  he  began  to  contend,  saying 
the  thing  to  do  was  to  take  what  money  he  received  for 
insurance  and  the  amount  in  the  bank  and  divide  it  among 
themselves  and  let  the  creditors  take  what  accounts  there 
were  for  what  they  owed  them,  as  all  of  it  would  pay  only 
a  small  per  cent  to  the  creditors.  Bennie  told  him  that  when 
he  went  to  supper  that  night  of  the  fire  there  were  fifty  or 
sixty  dollars  in  the  drawer,  not  put  in  the  safe  but  left  for 
change,  besides  a  good  deal  in  paper,  but  the  old  man  claimed 
that  he  was  too  excited  to  take  it  out,  but  there  was  no  silver 
found  when  they  cleared  the  debris  away.  Also  he  said  that 
he  had  more  than  thousands  in  the  business  when  he  had 
only  put  three  hundred  dollars  in,  and  had  drawn  all  of  that 
out  except  about  seventy-five  dollars  and  he  could  have  that, 
and  every  dollar  of  the  balance  was  going  to  the  creditors. 
Then  the  old  man  insisted  on  each  taking  what  they  had 
first  put  in  and  the  five  hundred  each,  exemption.     Bennie 


58  MEMORIES 


refused,  saying  that  they  did  not  have  a  cent  in  the  business 
until  the  debts  were  paid.  The  old  man  objected  to  this 
and  said  that  he  would  stop  the  insurance,  as  he  had  no 
right  to  give  a  check  on  the  bank,  but  the  insurance  agent 
was  seen,  who  promised  that  the  insurance  would  be  paid 
him,  as  it  was  in  his  name. 

In  a  few  days  the  percentage  of  resources  on  the  liabilities 
was  worked  out.  About  that  time  the  northern  creditors 
began  to  come  in  and  after  having  a  conference  and  finding 
out  how  much  was  left,  and  hearing  Bennie's  proposition  to 
pay  them  proportionately,  as  far  as  the  money  would  go,  his 
largest  creditor  inquired:  "Wliat  are  you  thinking  of  doing 
now?"  Bennie  replied  that  he  would  soon  get  a  job  some- 
where, and  pay  his  creditors  all  he  made,  except  enough  for 
his  board  and  a  few  clothes.  This  creditor  then  said  to  him : 
"Before  you  do  anything,  I  want  to  have  a  talk  with  you." 
Bennie  thought  that  he  was  going  to  give  him  a  job,  and  he 
asked  him  if  he  could  meet  him  at  a  certain  hotel  at  two 
o'clock.  He  was  told  "yes"  and  when  the  time  arrived,  so 
had  Bennie.  After  being  offered  a  cigar,  he  was  asked  to 
sit  down  and  "let's  talk  business."  The  first  question  asked 
was:  "Would  you  go  back  into  business  if  you  were  able?" 
Bennie  answered  "Yes."  His  creditor  then  said :  "I  have 
been  in  communication  with  my  partner,  and  we  have  agreed 
to  put  you  back  into  business,  you  giving  us  your  plain  notes 
for  what  you  owe  us.  We  will  sell  you  all  the  goods  that 
you  want  and  assist  you  to  buy  from  any  jobber  or  importer 
any  goods  you  may  need  that  we  do  not  carry.  You  can 
take  the  money  you  have  and  give  it  to  the  other  creditors, 
with  the  understanding  that  you  will  have  no  partnership  with 
the  man  you  were  to  take  in  with  you."  Bennie  readily 
complied  with  this  condition,  saying  that  he  had  already 
determined  to  have  no  further  business  relations  with  the  man 
referred  to. 

Before  the  manufacturer  and  jobber  left,  Bennie  had  paid 
all  of  his  creditors,  except  one  or  two  who  agreed  to  wait 


BUI:^INESS!  EXPERIENCES  IN  THE  CITY  ',*) 

until  be  was  able  to  pay  them  after  lie  got  in  business  again. 
When  be  went  around  with  bis  cbeck  book  and  statements, 
most  of  tbose  be  owed  agreed  to  give  bim  ten  per  cent  off, 
and  wanted  to  sell  bim  all  be  needed,  or  would  take  in  bis 
store.  Wbile  be  was  getting  straigbtcned  out  and  trying  to 
get  a  store  in  a  suitable  location,  a  big  mercbant,  just  balf  a 
block  from  wbere  bis  store  was  burned,  failed.  His  receivers 
sold  goods  at  almost  any  price.  Wben  tbe  staple  goods  were 
sold,  and  be  saw  tbat  tbere  was  not  enougb  casb  taken  in 
to  pa^'  bis  clerks,  be  went  to  Bennie,  and  offered  to  sell  at 
bis  o^\ni  price.  Wben  it  was  reported  tbat  Bennie  was  going 
to  buy  tbe  stock  and  move  in  tbe  unlucky  corner,  some  of  tbe 
old  men  wbo  bad  known  Bennie's  fatber  wben  tbey  were 
boys,  went  to  bim  and  asked  bim  not  to  move  in  tbat  store, 
as  no  one  bad  ever  done  business  tbere  without  failure. 
Besides,  it  seemed  tbat  no  one  could  succeed  on  that  street 
without  selling  whiskey.  Bennie  told  them  that  he  had  never 
sold  whiskey  and  didn't  intend  to,  as  be  would  plow  an  ox 
again  before  he  would  sell  it.  Also  that  be  was  going  to  try 
to  make  that  corner  tbe  "lucky  corner"  from  then  on. 

The  deal  on  the  old  stock  was  closed  and  new  goods  began 
to  come  in.  Business  became  better  with  bim  than  it  had 
ever  been  before.  All  bis  obligations  were  met  promptly, 
including  the  notes  given  to  bis  northern  friend.  His  credit 
was  all  that  he  desired,  and  he  knew  bow  to  keep  it  that 
way,  by  being  cautious  in  bis  business.  The  old  corner  that 
bad  been  known  as  the  "unlucky  corner"  changed  its  name 
to  the  "lucky  corner"  as  tbe  business  increased  each  year, 
through  the  friendship  of  the  hundreds  of  new  customers 
tbat  were  gradually  increasing  throughout  tbe  territory  tbat 
supported  the  city.  Several  steamers  made  regular  trips, 
some  of  them  each  day,  whose  officers  were  old  friends  of 
Bennie's,  wbo  directed  their  passengers  to  bis  store  as  tbe 
best  place  to  trade.  This  had  its  effect,  and  his  business 
soon  became  popularly  known  by  the  many  nice  things  said 
of  him  by  others,  some  of  whom  were  old  citizens  wbo  bad 


60  MEMORIES 


known  his  father  before  he  married  Bennie's  mother.  The 
good  name  of  the  parent  is  one  of  the  greatest  assets  that 
children  can  have,  as  it  will  take  them  where  money  cannot. 

OUR    FRIENDS    THAT    HAVE    GONE 

Dedicated  Christmas  Day — December  25th,  1920 

Where  are  our  old  friends  gone? 
Those  that  we  knew  and  loved  years  ago, 
We  loved  them,  we  miss  them,  more  and  more ; 
Will  we  clasp  their  hands  on  the  other  shore? 

Yes  we  will  see  them  and  feel  their  clasp, 
They  signal  to  their  friends  come, 
We  are  waiting,  watching  and  praying; 
Come  to  the  happy  home  we  are  staying. 

Come,  say  they,  give  us  your  heart  clasped  hand, 
And  join   the   Holy   Christian   Band, 
Who  are  waiting  there  in  their  mansion ; 
In  that  long  looked  for  promised  land. 

Our  earthly  home  is  fast  becoming  frail, 
We  soon  will  need  a  new  abode. 
Have  we  been  building  a  home  on  high, 
Where  there  will  be  no  sorrow,  guile  or  sighs? 

Yes,  we  again  expect  to  be  with  our  friends. 
Where  there  will  be  no  more  parting. 
But  Joy  unspeakable  in  that  Heavenly  abode; 
Where  sin  and  sorrow  cannot  go. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    NEW    ERA 

In  hiring  his  help,  Bennie  generally  employed  well-raised 
bovs  from  the  country,  as  they  were  not  so  accustomed  to 
watching  the  clock.  Although  crude  at  first,  they  usually 
developed  into  the  very  best  of  help,  and  he  advanced  them 
as  fast  as  their  interest  in  the  business  justified,  paying  them 
far  better  salaries  as  a  rule  than  other  clerks  received.  He 
also  paid  them  weekly  instead  of  monthly,  and  placed  the 
fullest  confidence  in  them  and  demanded  the  best  service  in 
return.  No  drinking  or  cigarette  smoking  was  tolerated, 
and  full  weight  and  good  treatment  of  customers  was  insisted 
upon.  This  method  of  training  developed  very  good  help, 
which  gave  Bennie  time  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  better- 
ment of  political  and  other  affairs.  Like  his  father,  he  had  a 
contempt  for  the  professional  office  hunter  and  took  delight  in 
helping  defeat  corrupt  office  holders,  so  he  led  the  fight  in  his 
own  township  while  on  the  farm,  to  put  out  of  business  the 
corrupt  machine  that  was  not  careful  in  dealing  out  justice, 
except  as  it  suited  them.  Before  he  left  his  farm,  they  were 
not  to  be  seen  at  a  convention  and  were  considered  a  thing  of 
the  past.  He  found  that  city  politics  were  far  worse  than 
politics  in  the  country,  as  the  political  machine  and  big 
business  were  in  partnership,  to  a  gTcat  extent,  the  politician 
holding  the  offices  and  drawing  the  salaries  and  the  special 
interests  being  allowed  all  the  advantage  they  might  want, 
contrary  to  the  best  interests  of  the  citizens  themselves.  He 
soon  lined  himself  on  the  side  of  those  who  were  fighting  these 
evils,  but  as  it  had  been  for  several  years  past  led  by  a  rich  old 
Jew  merchant  who  was  as  shrewd  as  he  was  thought  to  be 
corrupt,  and  it  meant  defeat  every  time  for  those  who  dared  to 
try  to  get  better  men  at  the  head  of  the  city  government.  As 
he  had  always  taken  great  interest  in  the  advancement  of  his 

[61] 


62  MEMORIES 


State,  even  when  on  the  farm,  he  began  writing-  articles  for 
many  of  the  leading  papers,  advocating  protection  of  the 
forests,  good  roads,  better  stock  and  drainage,  and  more 
equitable  rates  from  the  railroads,  telegraphs,  etc.  His 
letters  caused  a  great  deal  of  comment. 

At  that  time  the  larger  papers  were  not  so  much  under 
the  influence  of  big  business  as  they  have  become  since,  and 
many  were  eager  to  have  articles  out  of  the  old,  long-used 
rut,  but  when  the  people  began  to  think,  as  so  few  do,  the 
special  interests  of  the  State  began  to  tighten  down  on  those 
papers  that  they  could  bring  pressure  on,  through  their 
owned  politicians  in  the  different  counties.  Consequently, 
it  was  not  long  before  those  who  dared  to  advocate  those 
advanced  ideas  were  branded  as  wild-eyed  populists  that 
were  a  menace  to  the  country.  Of  course,  those  who  had 
left  them  to  do  their  thinking  believed  them,  as  they  saw  it 
in  the  papers.  It  was  natural  that  these  papers  only  let 
their  editors  tell  them  what  they  wanted  them  to  think.  In 
this  way,  any  man  who  had  given  his  thought  and  time  to 
the  honest  betterment  of  humanity  was  only  a  dissatisfied 
office-seeker  and  an  enemy  to  his  country.  When  he  found 
that  new  ideas  of  pleas  for  the  betterment  of  conditions 
would  not  be  published  in  the  majority  of  the  papers  of  the 
State,  he  started  a  small  weekly  paper  of  his  own,  filled  prin- 
cipally with  his  owTi  editorials  and  ads.  His  little  publica- 
tion needed  no  extra  advertising,  as  the  special-interests 
papers  saw  to  that  without  pay. 

Few  people  in  the  State  were  better  known  than  he  was, 
and  his  business  continued  to  grow.  He  went  to  the  manu- 
facturing companies  and  importers  and  arranged  to  handle 
most  of  his  goods  direct,  through  brokers  and  agents.  He 
had  all  of  his  orders,  except  for  his  local  territory,  shipped 
direct  from  the  factory  to  his  customers,  the  invoices  coming 
to  the  main  office  to  be  rebilled.  Mainly  he  handled  the  arti- 
cles that  would  sell  and  give  a  fair  profit,  content  to  let  his 
competitors  handle  the  heavy  goods  that  required  more  money 


THE  NEW  ERA  68 


to  handle,  but  less  profit  to  the  jobber.  His  trade  was  on 
anything  that  he  could  sell,  and  extended  as  far  north  as 
Boston,  west  to  the  Mississippi,  south  to  the  West  Indies. 
When  shipping-  his  cargoes  of  shingles  and  other  products  of 
his  home  territory,  he  would  have  the  vessel  bring  back  a 
cargo  of  fruit  to  distribute  to  the  trade  throughout  the  towns 
near  by.  He  supplied  the  lumber  mills'  orders  for  shingles 
(his  largest  booking  for  one  week  was  eighteen  hundred 
thousand),  handling  about  all  the  output  that  were  either 
sawed  or  rived.  He  knew  where  to  place  his  order,  as  all  of 
them  were  his  customers,  and  he  felt  that  the  more  of  their 
products  he  could  sell,  the  more  trade  he  would  likely  get 
from  them  in  return. 

The  same  applied  to  merchants  handling  farm  produce. 
When  the  market  would  become  stagnant  on  any  commodity 
at  his  home  port,  he  would  get  busy  at  distant  cities  to  find 
a  market  for  them — field  peas,  eggs,  deer  tongue,  etc.  When 
finding  where  they  could  be  disposed  of  at  a  fair  price,  he 
would  have  his  men  buy  up  all  that  they  could,  at  prices  that 
would  enable  them  to  sell,  to  be  shipped  to  his  places  of  busi- 
ness, to  be  reshipped  in  car  lots,  unless  he  could  buy  car  lots, 
such  as  field  peas  or  peanuts,  then  he  would  have  them  loaded 
in  car  lots  and  ship  to  himself  to  points  where  sold.  In  one 
season  he  shipped  thirty-one  solid  cars  of  field  peas  to  New 
OTleans  and  Cincinnati  for  farmers,  who  used  them  to  sow 
do^vn  and  turn  under  for  fertilizing  the  soil.  The  price  to 
the  home  growers  in  North  Carolina  was  raised  from  thirty- 
five  cents  per  bushel  to  ninety  cents  the  first  year.  The  next 
season  they  received  one  dollar  and  ten  cents,  and  on,  until 
those  who  did  what  they  saw  others  doing  went  in  and  soon 
had  the  market  down.  It  was  generally  the  practice  of  those 
who  didn't  know  how  to  find  and  keep  business,  but  he  had 
two  to  three  years  before  they  got  on  to  his  home  shipments 
of  new  business. 

All  this  time  he  ran  his  paper,  doing  his  writing  after  he 
went  home  to  his  family,  as  he  was  then  married  and  had 


64  3IEM0RIES 


three  or  four  children.  Often  he  would  work  until  after 
midnight,  getting  material  ready  for  the  printer.  His  paper 
was  independent  democrat,  but  its  independence  from 
party  slavery  did  not  suit  the  other  controlled  political  organs, 
and  first  one  and  then  another  would  pitch  on  the  paper  with 
all  their  might  to  crush  its  influence,  but  when  the  Neiv 
Era  came  back  at  them  to  the  blare  of  the  public  and  the 
influence  behind  them,  they  no  doubt  held  their  spite  against 
its  editor,  but  never  tackled  it  more  than  the  second  time. 
His  independence  was  cutting  rather  a  breach  in  their  well- 
padded  berths,  as  with  his  growing  business  and  influence 
he  was  exerting  in  the  territory  he  was  becoming  a  competitor 
to  some  of  his  most  piqued  rivals.  It  gave  some  of  them  the 
necessity  to  do  anj^thing  they  thought  would  injure  his  influ- 
ence, but  that  did  not  stop  his  determination  to  do  all  he 
could  to  defeat  the  corrupt  political  ring  in  his  city;  and 
about  this  time,  demonetizing  of  silver  began  to  be  advocated, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  the  big  banking  houses,  headed 
by  G.  W.  Williams  &  Co.,  of  i^ew  York,  began  sending  out 
letters  to  all  the  banks  and  merchants  of  the  country,  calling 
on  them  to  do  all  they  could  to  get  their  representatives  in 
Congress  to  vote  to  demonetize  silver.  Bennie  received  one 
of  these  urgent  letters  himself.  Williams  &  Co.,  the  ITew 
York  bankers,  stood  at  the  top  of  Wall  Street  trust  about 
as  Morgan,  Kahn  &  Co.  do  now.  Having  been  a  close  stu- 
dent of  political  economy  at  school,  under  a  noted  teacher, 
he  could  not  help  seeing  the  injustice  of  the  large  banks  call- 
ing in  all  the  gold  in  the  country  and  getting  it  in  their  pos- 
session, and  then  demonetizing  silver,  which  was  half  of  our 
basic  money,  and  that  its  certificates  were  used  for  trading- 
purposes,  as  the  gold  was  held  by  the  banks.  Besides,  the 
bankers  were  the  holders  of  most  of  the  nation's  bonds,  issued 
when  silver  and  gold  were  on  a  par,  as  well  as  other  debts, 
notes,  etc.,  when  silver  was  basic  money  along  with  the  gold. 
His  transformation  from  luxury  to  slavery,  the  long  years 
he  had  to  work  until  he  was  nearly  gT0A\ai,  to  pay  old  debts. 


THE  NEW  ERA 


made  when  money  was  cheap,  and  paid  at  the  sacrifice  of 
everything  except  honor,  when  money  was  scarce,  had  tanght 
liini  something  that  few  had  an  occasion  to  learn,  and  after 
giving  much  thought  to  the  ([uestion,  lie  knew  that  to  cut  off 
half  our  money  supply  would  give  the  half  left  double  its 
purchasing  power,  and  the  banker  or  man  that  had  his  wealth 
in  bonds  or  money  would  share  the  gain,  while  those  in  debt 
or  who  did  not  have  their  wealth  in  gold  currency  would  be 
the  ones  to  suffer  at  the  expense  of  the  money  monopolists. 
For  that  reason,  the  day  that  the  mass-meeting  was  called, 
advertised  for  days  by  all  the  papers,  as  they  never  tire  of 
serving  those  they  depend  upon,  such  a  crowd  had  not  before 
been  seen  in  the  chamber  of  commerce,  there  being  seats  to 
seat  not  more  than  a  third  of  the  crowd — the  remainder 
stood  like  sardines  in  their  cans.  The  meeting  was  called  to 
order  by  its  president,  he  calling  on  some  one  of  the  bank 
directors  to  explain  the  object  of  the  meeting,  as  had  been 
sent  him  and  all  other  bankers  and  chambers  of  commerce 
over  the  entire  country.  When  he  had  finished  making  his 
audience  believe  that  silver  ought  to  be  demonetized,  as  it 
was  being  mined  and  coined  as  fast  as  precious  gold  was, 
and  that  the  country  would  soon  be  i*uined  if  its  coinage  was 
not  stopped,  he  did  not  tell  them  the  government  could  de- 
monetize gold  in  the  place  of  silver  if  it  chose.  This  would 
have  been  equally  as  wrong,  but  that  was  not  orders  from 
Lombard  Street  in  England  and  Wall  Street  in  New  York, 
hot  from  our  money  manipulators,  nor  did  he  tell  them  that 
the  government  could  demonetize  both  silver  and  gold,  and 
stamp  or  print  its  money  out  of  paper  or  raw  hides  or  any- 
thing it  might  choose,  and  make  it  legal  tender  for  all  debts, 
etc.,  and  all  the  wealth  of  the  government  would  be  the 
security  for  the  notes  it  saw  fit  to  issue.  This  would  take 
the  representation  of  all  our  wealth  out  of  the  mone}'  trust 
that  manipulates,  and  the  financial  destiny  of  all  the  people, 
held  so  long,  until  they  think  it  their  divine  right  to  thus 
hold  those  special  privileges  that  enable  them  to  control  every- 
5 


66  MEMORIES 


thing  here  below,  and  many  no  doubt  think  their  liberal  gifts 
to  the  poor,  whom  they  make  and  help  keep  poor,  will  entitle 
them  to  a  seat  in  Heaven,  but  they  are  as  blind  in  that  as 
they  are  in  most  of  their  doings.  Being  able  to  control  news- 
papers, railroads,  banks,  and  our  money,  they  well  know  that 
the  balance  is  easy,  but  they  have  never  stopped  to  think  in 
any  age,  until  they  find  it  too  late,  as  was  in  the  case  of  the 
original  starter,  Williams  &  Co.,  in  Wall  Street,  of  the  war 
on  silver.  When  they  had  carried  their  point,  the  people 
became  frightened,  withdrew  their  deposits  from  the  banks 
to  a  great  extent,  and  banks  began  to  break  all  over  the 
country.  Before  the  end,  Williams  &  Co.,  the  greatest  bank- 
ers of  Wall  Street,  had  to  close  their  doors,  and  its  head 
passed  out  to  a  place  where  he  had  to  meet  a  Judge  that  has 
no  respect  for  persons,  except  those  who  follow  His  teachings. 
After  the  cut-and-dried  program  had  been  debated,  a  mo- 
tion was  made  to  adopt  a  long  resolution  to  be  sent  our  Con- 
gress. On  being  put  to  a  vote,  it  was  unanimous,  with  the 
exception  of  one  vote,  which  was  Bonnie's,  who  arose  and 
gave  in  a  few  minutes  his  reasons  for  voting  against  it.  If 
a  bomb  had  fallen  into  the  meeting,  it  would  not  have  caused 
more  comment,  as  many  in  the  meeting  had  voted  before  they 
had  given  any  thought  to  the  question.  One  lone  voice  for 
silver,  out  of  an  audience  of  about  two  hundred.  This  gave 
Bennie  a  chance  to  answer  the  headlines  in  one  of  the  leading 
papers,  which  gave  a  slur,  as  he  took  it  to  be,  by  giving  his 
reason  for  voting  "no."  In  a  day  or  two,  there  was  a  reply 
to  his  article  from  one  in  a  town  of  the  State,  signed  R.  M.  C. 
Bennie  answered  it,  which  came  out  Sunday  morning  follow- 
ing. The  matter  became  quite  an  interesting  topic  on  the 
streets  and  wherever  the  paper  was  read.  The  next  Sunday, 
R.  M.  C.  had  replied,  and  each  one  had  his  reply  alternately 
in  each  Sunday's  paper,  but  the  readers  said  that  Bonnie's 
articles  were  far  in  advance  of  R.  M.  C.'s,  and  it  was  learned 
afterward  that  R.  M.  C.  had  gotten  one  of  the  leading  attor- 
neys in  the  city  to  help  him  get  up  his  articles;  and  when  it 


THE  NEW  ERA  67 


was  beginning  to  be  talked  that  Bennie  was  swamping  both 
in  one  of  his  opponents,  this  prominent  attorney,  whose 
father  was  a  Wall  Street  Stock  Exchange  member,  is  said  to 
have  sent  Bennie's  articles  there  to  be  answered.  They  came 
back,  signed  R.  M.  C,  but  postmarked  in  R.  M.  C.'s  own 
town.  Bennie  discovered,  as  soon  as  he  read  the  first  answer, 
written  by  the  shrewdest  Wall  Street  attorney,  that  there  had 
been  more  help  added  to  the  controversy,  and  while  he  was 
quite  busy  attending  to  his  business,  yet  he  would  take  a  few 
minutes  at  his  desk  alone  and  answer  R.  M.  C.  and  his  help- 
ers' arguments. 

This  series  of  pro-and-con  controversy  went  on  for  about 
six  months.  The  proprietor  said  that  he  sold  more  issues  of 
the  paper  than  ever  before,  and  never  had  enough  to  fill  his 
orders  from  every  section  of  the  country,  as  the  more  it  was 
discussed,  the  more  interested  the  people  became.  It  was  not 
long  before  Bennie  had  his  New  York  competitor  where  he 
needed  help,  and  when  he  began  to  send  out  letters  that  con- 
tained mostly  what  Bennie  had  seen  in  circulars  stereotyped 
and  sent  out  from  Wall  Street,  he  knew  that  they  were  at 
their  limit,  and  it  was  not  long  before  even  the  ''goldbugs," 
as  they  were  called,  had  to  admit  that  their  advocator  got 
the  worst  end  of  the  argument.  One  of  Bennie's  friends, 
who  was  closely  connected  in  a  large  bank,  told  him  the 
secret  of  the  plot  to  down  him  on  the  argument,  and  while 
he  was  one  of  the  so-called  goldbugs,  he  said  the  secret  was 
too  good  to  keep,  since  he  had  won  over  his  opponents  by 
the  consensus  of  the  people  generally,  and  said  the  man  who 
fathered  all  the  articles  reversed  his  initials,  but  he  made 
Bennie  promise  not  to  give  the  information  away.  Soon 
after  the  controversy  closed,  which  was  after  Bennie  put 
questions  to  him  that  he  dared  not  answer,  as  he  was  aware 
that  he  was  arguing  against  all  the  talent  the  goldbug  could 
muster,  and  when  they  were  asked  for  full  particulars  of  help 
employed,  they  were  not  heard  of  any  more. 


6S  MEMORIES 


In  the  meantime,  Beimie  had  been  sending  a  copy  of  the 
paper  during  the  controversy  to  W.  J.  Bryan,  who  had  come 
out  against  demonetizing  silver,  and  who  wrote  to  Bennie  at 
the  close  of  the  controversy  that  he  had  not  received  letters 
with  more  convincing  arguments  from  any  one  than  were  in 
his  articles.  The  articles  were  printed  in  some  of  the  leading 
papers  of  the  West,  and  later  Bennie  received  a  compli- 
mentary copy  of  "Coin,"  Harvey's  book,  and  wrote  him  that 
while  he  did  not  need  his  book,  as  he  had  kept  up  with  his 
articles  on  coinage  and  against  the  demonetizing  of  silver, 
which  he  considered  one  of  the  best  arguments  that  he  had 
had  the  pleasure  of  reading. 

During  this  time  the  State  Democratic  Committee  had 
issued  a  call  to  all  its  members  to  meet  at  the  State  capital 
to  consider  the  policy  of  the  party.  When  they  met,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  they  voted  that  in  their  opinion  it  would 
be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  country  for  the  party  to  advo- 
cate the  single  gold  standard,  and  so  recommended  it.  He 
knew  that  the  party  leaders  were  expecting  to  decide  before 
they  went  to  the  capital,  as  there  are  few  servants  that  know 
not  their  masters. 

In  the  meantime  Bennie's  weekly  was  kept  full  of  his  rea- 
sons for  opposing  the  demonetizing  of  silver,  and  he  was 
sending  a  copy  to  every  merchant  in  the  State  put  down  in 
Bradstreet,  as  well  as  an  equal  number,  if  not  more,  of  the 
farmers  and  other  citizens,  and  received  letters  from  all  over 
the  State  commending  his  stand  and  volunteering  service. 

OUR  CONSCIENCE 

Is  it  not  well  we  do  not  see  the  Ghost, 
The  one  that  knows  of  us  the  most, 
Of  all  the  things  in  our  life, 
Things  done  that  keep  us  from  feeling  exactly  right. 

Though  it  is  our  Ghost  we  all  should  fear, 
Though  we  may  not  think  it  is  always  near. 
Yet  it  reminds  us  that  we  are  weak. 
And  it  is  well  that  to  us  our  Ghost  sometimes  speak. 


THE  NEW  ERA  («> 


It  is  this  Gliost  ttiat  shadows  our  lives 
Of  the  things  we  thinlc  we  safely  keep, 
Though  in  silence  we  may  think  it  is  asleep, 
Yet  he  keeps  whispering  to  us  of  the  past, 
The  things  we  would  like  to  forget. 

Then  be  careful  not  to  fall  asleep 
At  the  Evil  One's  cunning  feet ; 
If  you  do,  he  will  soon  have  you  on  the  retreat. 
Instead  of  becoming  meek,  so  we  may  rest  in  our  sleep. 

He  soon  had  a  strong  organization  in  over  half  of  the  coun- 
ties of  the  State,  and  they  plainly  announced  that  they  would 
not  vote  for  any  candidate  or  party  that  was  opposed  to  the 
coinage  of  silver  equal  to  that  of  gold.  When  the  State  Demo- 
cratic Convention  was  called,  there  were  more  than  a  few  of 
the  merchants,  who  had  found  no  time  before  to  attend  con- 
ventions, that  were  so  far  from  their  homes,  but  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  found  that  they  were  to  be  considered,  and 
soon  began  to  fall  over  each  other  to  take  side  of  the  boys 
who  carried  the  votes,  and  they  adopted  resolutions  condemn- 
ing the  demonetization  of  silver,  and  would  count  it  the 
greatest  crime  of  the  age  to  do  so.  The  Populist  party  had 
already  endorsed  it,  and  sent  a  committee  to  wait  on  the 
Democratic  Convention,  offering  to  co-operate  or  fuse  with 
the  Democrats  if  they  would  give  them  recognition  by  letting 
them  have  one  of  the  State  offices,  any  one,  to  show  recogni- 
tion, but  the  goldbug  element  almost  foamed  at  the  mouth, 
as  they  had  already  planned  to  run  an  independent  Demo- 
cratic ticket,  which  they  did  later — Palmer  and  Buckner. 
They  were  working  to  keep  the  silver  forces  separated.  The 
convention  did  its  work  and  went  home,  but  it  was  noticed 
that  some  of  the  electors  that  were  nominated  were  thought 
to  be  for  gold,  though  soon  afterwards  the  Populist  Execu- 
tive Committee  met,  and  invited  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Democratic  party  to  meet  at  the  same  time,  as  well  as 
the  silver  organization.  When  the  day  arrived,  the  com- 
mittees were  there,  as  well  as  the  delegates  from  the  silver 


70  MEMORIES! 


clubs  of  the  State.  Berrnie,  being  chairman  of  the  silver 
organization,  was  its  principal  spokesman,  and  the  proposi- 
tion of  fusing  with  the  Populists  on  electors  and  one  State 
office  came  up  again  at  the  same  time.  The  Republicans  had 
offered  to  fuse  with  the  Populists,  who  held  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  State,  by  letting  the  Populists  name  their  terms, 
but  their  chairman  and  State  Senator,  Marion  Butler,  had 
repeatedly  refused  to  consider  their  overtures,  as  their  party 
stood  for  the  gold  standard,  while  the  Populists  were  for 
both  gold  and  silver. 

After  the  friends  of  silver  worked  two  days  and  nights 
trying  to  get  co-operation  between  the  two  parties,  the  red-hot 
partisans  in  the  Democratic  party  refused  to  yield  a  single 
State  office,  as  they  seemed  too  anxious  to  hold  all  for  them- 
selves, but  they  were  warned  by  Bennie  that  they  would  lose 
the  State  offices.  The  majority  said  they  would  win,  and 
would  risk  it ;  so,  after  the  salaried  officers  could  not  be  got- 
ten to  give  up  one  office  to  the  Populists,  the  earnest  silver 
men  in  all  three  organizations  began  to  try  to  get  co-operation 
on  the  electors.  After  a  day  and  night  more,  there  was  an 
agreement  reached  between  the  two  parties  to  co-operate  on 
the  electors — there  were  eleven  to  be  chosen — the  Democrats 
were  to  have  five,  the  Populists  five,  and  the  silver  organiza- 
tion one.  The  organization  settled  on  Bennie  for  the  eleventh 
elector,  but  ho  flatly  refused  to  serve,  telling  them  that  he 
had  more  than  two  men  could  well  look  after;  besides,  he 
never  had,  and  never  wanted  to  have,  any  ambition  to  hold  a 
public  office.  However,  he  did  ask  the  privilege  of  naming 
one  of  the  best  men  in  the  State,  who  was  strong,  with  a 
large  following  that  had  walked  out  of  the  National  Eepvib- 
lican  Convention  with  Senator  Tellar  and  others,  condemning 
his  lifelong  party  for  its  betrayal  to  the  money  trust,  that  he 
was  honest  and  honorable  as  well  as  courageous.     When  they 

asked  who  he  was,  Bennie  named  him — Dr.  Al thinking, 

as  most  of  the  others  did,  that  he  was  a  splendid  fit. 


THH  MEW  EliA  71 


Feeling-  that  everything  had  been  arranged  satisfactorily, 
Bennie  bade  his  friends  good-night,  warning  the  leaders  of 
the  Democratic  party  that  they  were  making  a  big  mistake 
in  not  co-operating  all  the  way  down,  and  many  of  them 
thought  the  same  thing.  Everything  being  settled,  as  he 
thought,  he  took  the  late  train  for  home.  The  next  night  he 
received    a    telegram,   saying  that   some    of   the   committee 

wouldn't  consent  to  putting  Ur.  M on  the  ticket,  and  they 

wanted  to  use  his  name.  He  wired  back,  expressing  his 
regrets  at  their  action,  and  suggested  another  name,  who  was 
a  splendid  man  in  every  way,  and  a  Democrat.  The  next 
day  a  telegram  came,  saying  that  the  Democrats  wouldn't 
agree  to  accept  anyone  but  him,  and  if  he  refused  to  serve, 
all  would  fail.  He  then  wired  that  he  did  not  want  the  place, 
under  any  consideration,  and  would  only  consent  to  keep  the 
co-operation  from  failing ;  then  only  would  he  consent  to  the 
use  of  his  name.  In  the  next  morning's  paper  the  dispatch 
reported  that,  after  a  week  of  virrangling,  they  had  settled  on 
all  of  the  electors,  and,  to  Bonnie's  disappointment,  his  name 
was  chosen. 

A  few  days  afterward,  Bennie  received  a  letter  to  go  to  the 
capital  to  help  arrange  for  the  campaign.  After  spending  a 
day  helping-  to  get  all  the  plans  made,  he  was  ready  to  leave 
on  the  four  o'clock  train  next  morning.  Upon  arrival  he  was 
told  by  the  night  clerk  at  the  hotel  that  the  Democratic  com- 
mitteeman of  his  town  was  in  the  city,  and  supposed  to  be 
stopping  there,  but  he  had  not  been  there  in  several  nights, 
and  ought  to  be  looked  after.  Upon  inquiring  of  the  clerk  if 
he  knew  where  he  was,  he  was  told  where  the  clerk  had  heard 
he  was.  They  found  a  hackman  who  promised  to  be  at  the 
place  for  him  at  two  o'clock  and  have  him  at  the  hotel  in 
time  to  be  at  the  depot  for  the  train.  When  Bennie  went 
down  into  the  lobby  to  settle  his  bill,  the  hackman  had  his 
man,  but  he  wasn't  in  a  traveling  condition ;  also  his  money 
was  gone  and  he  did  not  seem  to  know  what  had  become  of  it. 
Bennie  took  charge  of  him  at  the  depot,  paying  for  his  break- 


72  MEMORIES 


fast.  The  man  had  a  pass,  being  a  newspaper  man,  and 
Bennie  looked  after  him  until  he  landed  in  his  o\\ti  town. 
^Vhen  Bennie  arrived  at  the  capital,  he  was  told  that  the 
Colonel  he  helped  to  get  back  home  had  done  all  he  could  to 
keep  the  other  committeemen  from  putting  him  on  the  Elec- 
toral Committee.  Bennie  replied  that  he  was  sorry  that  he 
did  not  succeed.  He  then  came  home,  the  work  of  the  cam- 
paign having  been  planned. 

He  filled  his  paper  with  interesting  reading  from  then  on. 
A  summons  came  to  him  in  a  few  days  to  meet  at  Kansas 
City  with  the  Populists  and  the  silver  organization  of  the 
entire  country,  to  see  if  there  could  be  a  co-operative  ticket 
named,  so  as  to  get  all  of  the  silver  forces  to  vote  for  Bryan, 
who  had  been  nominated  by  the  Democrats.  Bennie  was 
there  to  attend  the  meeting,  arriving  the  day  before,  mingling 
with  all  of  the  "silverites"  —  men  like  St.  John,  of  New 
York,  a  noted  banker,  who,  rather  than  submit  to  what  he  con- 
ceded to  be  a  great  injustice,  offered  his  resignation  to  his 
directors,  which,  of  course,  was  accepted,  as  no  man's  opinion 
counts  for  anything  with  those  whose  whole  aim  is  more 
money,  by  any  means. 

When  the  meeting  was  called  to  order,  the  great  hall  was 
packed,  from  every  part  of  the  country,  the  Populists  outnum- 
bering all  others  many  times.  Bennie  had  found  out  by 
mingling  with  them  that  they  were  opposed  to  any  compro- 
mise, and  wanted  nothing  to  do  with  the  Democrats,  as  they 
only  wanted  their  votes,  and  in  the  end  would  swallow  their 
party  whole.  Wliile  it  looked  gloomy,  yet  there  was  not  any- 
thing to  do  but  to  make  the  fight  on  the  fioor  of  the  con- 
vention, and  Bennie  was  one  of  the  first  on  his  feet  when 
the  convention  was  called  to  order,  making  a  motion  that 
Mr.  St.  John  be  made  chairman,  and  while  it  was  being 
seconded  there  were  several  others  nominated.  After  the 
nominations  were  all  made,  he  got  the  attention  of  the  chair 
and  spoke  in  behalf  of  his  motion,  giving  his  hearers  his 
reason  for  naming  a  man  who  had  sacrificed  his  great  position 


THE  NEW  ERA 


for  conscience's  sake,  and  that  the  convention  would  show  its 
unworthiness  in  meeting  if  they  did  not  show  their  gratitude 
for  such  heroism.  After  he  sat  do\m,  the  question  was  called 
for  at  once,  the  vote  taken  giving  St.  John  a  majority  of  the 
votes,  and  he  was  declared  elected. 

The  meeting  was  declared  ready  for  business.  Scores  of 
resolutions  were  offered  at  once,  all  opposing  co-operation. 
Each  resolution  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolutions, 
which  was  soon  named  by  the  chairman.  In  the  meantime 
it  seemed  that  every  one  wanted  the  floor  at  the  same  time, 
but  the  chairman,  being  a  fine  parliamentarian,  kept  all  in 
line  and  motions  in  order.  When  the  convention  closed  for 
lunch  it  was  about  where  it  started,  only  it  could  be  seen  that 
there  was  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the  majority  to  have 
only  a  straight  Populist  ticket ;  but  after  the  resolutions  com- 
mittee commenced,  it  did  not  want  to  report  until  the  temper 
of  the  crowd  had  changed  or  gotten  tired  and  left.  It  was 
two  days  in  getting  its  report  before  the  convention.  Wlien 
it  was  reported,  Bennie,  with  many  others  who  were  on  the 
committee,  spoke  for  its  adoption,  which  was  that  each  party 
should  nominate  its  regular  ticket,  then  co-operate  with  the 
Bryan  electors  in  order  that  the  electoral  vote  could  be  cast 
for  Bryan,  and  in  the  State  where  the  Populists  carried,  for 
the  Populist  Vice-President.  Had  a  vote  been  taken  when 
the  resolution  was  presented,  it  would  have  been  overwhelm- 
ingly defeated.  The  chairman  having  to  recognize  various 
speakers,  it  was  kept  from  coming  to  a  test  until  the  com- 
mittee was  ready  to  report,  and  many  of  the  fire-eaters  got 
disgusted  and  left.  Others  were  persuaded  not  to  throw 
away  the  only  chance  there  was  to  elect  a  man  for  President 
who  was  truly  for  silver  coinage  as  well  as  for  gold. 

After  the  convention  finished  and  all  had  become  recon- 
ciled, those  in  attendance  dispersed  for  their  homes.  A  few 
days  later,  reports  came  that  there  was  no  way,  apparently, 
to  untangle  the  situation  in  regard  to  electoral  votes,  with  two 
sets  of  candidates  running.    Up  to  then,  no  thought  had  been 


74  MEMORIES 


given  to  it,  but  after  many  days  of  heated  debates  on  the 
knotty  problem,  "Coin"  Harvey  offered  the  solution,  which 
was  accepted  by  all  as  the  plan.  Bennie  had  offered  the 
same  plan,  after  worrying  over  it  for  days  and  nights,  to  the 
Associated  telegTaph  dispatcher,  whom  he  had  brought  home 
from  the  State  capital,  and  had  opposed  any  co-operation. 
He  being  the  owner  of  the  oldest  Democratic  paper  in  the 
State,  but  being  blinded  with  party  prejudice,  refused  to 
take  it  as  news,  or  even  print  the  plan  that  would  untangle 
the  situation,  stating  that  the  Democrats  would  not  vote  for 

d Populist  electors  if  they  were  on  the  Democratic  ticket, 

but  the  plan  offered  by  Bennie  was  published  in  an  afternoon 
paper  three  days  before  Mr.  Harvey  gave  out  his  plan,  which 
was  the  same  that  was  offered  to  the  Associated  news  dis- 
patcher. They  did  vote  for  the  Populist  electors  in  this 
State,  carrying  it  for  Bryan  by  thirteen  thousand  and  five 
hundred  votes.  The  Populists  who  fused  with  the  Republi- 
cans in  State  and  county  offices,  after  the  blind  partisanship 
in  the  Democratic  party  had  refused  to  co-operate  with  them 
on  their  own  terms,  were  defeated  by  twelve  thousand  votes, 
thus  electing  Russell  for  Governor,  while  the  Democratic 
candidate  would  have  been  Governor  if  the  Democrats  had 
acted  wisely.  When  they  saw  that  they  were  defeated,  there 
was  great  disappointment,  as  is  the  case  when  one  set  of 
officers  have  to  move  out  to  give  their  warm  berths  to  their 
political  opponents. 

As  the  negro  was  voting  then,  and  the  Democrats  owned 
about  all  the  newspapers,  it  did  not  take  long  to  make  the 
people  of  the  State  and  the  balance  of  the  world  believe  that 
the  State  was  in  a  fearful  condition,  when  really  all  the  im- 
portant offices  of  the  State  were  held  by  white  people,  mostly 
from  the  Farmers'  Alliance  and  the  Populist  party.  Few,  if 
any,  negroes  were  elected  to  any  office,  certainly  not  to  any 
office  of  consequence,  but  the  first  Legislature  which,  as  soon 
as  all  officers  had  taken  hold,  appointed,  as  a  rule,  about  one- 
third  of  the  school  committeemen  in  the  eastern  counties, 


THE  NEW  ERA  T5 


where  their  vote  was  largest,  the  same  as  the  Democrats  had 
formerly  done,  two  white  school  committeemen  and  one  negro 
for  each  township,  the  latter  supposed  to  look  after  and  take 
the  census  of  the  negTO  children,  with  the  law  that  two  of  the 
committee  were  sufficient  to  control  the  schools,  sign  all  vouch- 
ers, which  left  with  the  two  white  committeemen  control  of 
the  schools.  A  few  minor  offices  were  filled  hy  negi-oes,  but 
not  enough  to  give  them  power  to  control.  The  Populists 
were  a  part  of  the  old  Democratic  party  who  had  rebelled 
and  left  it  because  they  claimed  that  it  was  completely  con- 
trolled by  the  railroads  and  other  corporations,  and  the  for- 
mer Populist-Democrat  would  not  stand  for  it. 

The  Legislature  made  many  new  laws,  putting  more  of  the 
burden  of  State  upon  these  corporations  by  reducing  railroad 
fares,  telegraph  and  telephone  charges,  and  forming  a  rail- 
road corporation  commission  for  the  State,  to  look  over  the 
railroads  and  other  public  utilities,  to  reg-ulate  them,  etc. ; 
also  it  elected  two  United  States  Senators.  State  Senator 
Marion  Butler  was  elected  for  six  years  to  fill  the  place  for- 
merly held  by  Senator  Ransom,  and  State  Senator  Jeter  C. 
Pritchard  was  elected  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Senator 
Vance,  who  had  died. 

A  change  in  many  of  the  State  laws  was  made,  but  when 
they  began  to  reduce  fares  and  freight  charges,  telegraph  and 
telephone  expenses,  etc.,  then  war  broke  out,  and  every  means, 
both  fair  and  foul,  mostly  the  latter,  was  used  to  discredit 
the  party  in  power,  as  these  big  gentry  had  held  sway  for 
years,  and  they  could  brook  no  equal  nor  endure  any  law 
they  could  not  dictate. 

While  the  Legislature  was  in  session,  there  were  two  or 
three  negToes  representing  one  or  two  of  the  eastern  counties 
having  a  large  negro  population.  This  was  also  true  in  for- 
mer years  under  Democratic  administration.  This  was  more 
than  the  Democrats  and  the  corporations  could  stand,  aftei" 
the  Democrats  had  foolishly  throwni  away  their  chance  of 


76  MEMORIES 


election.  With  their  army  of  attorneys,  riding  on  free  passes 
and  controlling  the  press,  their  papers  put  on  red  paint,  which 
the  Populists  said  was  poke-juice.  Whether  is  was,  or  not, 
their  headlines  were  large  and  red  enough  to  frighten  a  blind 
man  if  he  had  been  told  what  they  looked  like.  No  man's 
character,  regardless  of  his  record,  was  immune  from  their 
attack  if  he  was  a  Populist  or  Republican.  A  preacher  of 
the  Gospel  (and  there  were  several  in  the  Legislature)  was 
shown  no  more  consideration  than  if  he  were  a  criminal,  as 
many  weeping  wives,  mothers,  and  sisters  could  bear  testi- 
mony. 1^0  doubt  some  of  the  leaders  in  these  outrages  have 
gone  to  answer  for  them  before  a  just  Judge.  It  took  nearly 
twelve  months  to  get  these  laws  enforced  against  railroads; 
then  they  carried  their  cases  from  court  to  court,  until  the 
people  never  received  any  reduction  of  charges,  as  the  Repub- 
licans and  Populists  only  controlled  one  more  Legislature. 

When  the  third  Legislature  was  to  be  elected,  the  Demo- 
crats went  down  in  one  of  the  strongest  negro  counties  in  the 
State  to  secure  a  chairman  as  manager  of  their  campaign, 
who,  it  is  said,  had  learned  to  count  the  Republican  and  negro 
votes  for  the  Democrats,  and  who  instructed  his  pollholders 
and  workers  all  over  the  State  as  to  his  method  of  counting ; 
also  how  to  dress  in  red  shirts  and  big  plumes.  There  was 
plenty  of  "red-eye"  to  be  had  for  the  mere  hunting,  with 
plenty  of  money,  and  it  was  said  that  guns  were  stored  in 
some  of  the  railroad  storage  rooms.  All  this  came  on  during 
the  panic  that  came  during  and  after  Cleveland's  adminis- 
tration. With  thousands  of  loafing  men  everywhere,  it  was 
doubly  easy  for  the  Democratic  chairman  to  gain  recruits, 
and  when  the  election  returns  were  all  in,  he  had  carried  his 
State  by  the  biggest  count  ever  given  his  party,  the  largest 
majority  coming  from  where  there  were  the  most  negroes, 
though  it  was  claimed  that  but  few  of  them  in  the  eastern 
counties  pretended  to  vote,  but  the  returns  did  not  indicate 
that  their  vote  was  not  counted,  and  thus  the  State  had  been 


THE  NEW  ERA 


saved,  as  it  was  claimed,  from  negro  domination,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  there  were  from  three  to  four  white 
voters  in  the  State  to  every  negro. 

Judging  from  this,  the  North  Carolina  negro  must  be  the 
smartest  in  the  world,  to  have  such  power  against  such  a 
majority  of  white  people.  The  character  of  the  white  men 
who  were  elected  to  office  by  the  Populists  and  Republicans 
compared  favorably  with  those  holding  office  under  the 
former  Democratic  administration,  and  many  of  the  laws 
that  they  enacted  were  needed,  and  were  some  of  the  best  that 
the  State  had  up  to  that  time.  It  could  be  said  at  least, 
that  it  was  not  under  the  ruling  corporation  of  the  State, 
though  they  used  gTeat  influence,  and  caused  much  trouble 
among  the  two  factions  of  the  Republican  and  Populist 
parties.  Of  course  the  State  Democratic  Chairman  rose  at 
once  from  the  Railroad  "cow  lawj^er"  to  be  senator  of  the 
United  States  and  the  everlasting  gratitude  of  the  little  county 
officers  as  well  as  those  who  feed  from  the  county  and  State 
crib  was  given,  and  they  still  feel  grateful  to  the  chairman  for 
teaching  how  to  count,  and  with  their  little  county  machine, 
they  have  formed  one  big  State  machine,  that  also  expresses 
gratitude  to  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  chairman,  who  knows 
so  well  how  to  control  correspondents  of  newspapers,  and  the 
office  holder  as  a  rule  in  his  State  that  it  would  be  a  crime 
to  deprive  him  of  his  high  senatorial  seat,  when  he  is  of  such 
great  service  to  big  husiriess  firms  all  over  the  country,  at  the 
same  time  knowing  how  to  do  so  much  for  the  masses  through 
the  headlines  of  the  controlled  press  to  be  tuned  and  sung 
by  his  machines  who  look  after  his  interests  so  cunningly, 
that  he  had  them  all  guessing  except  the  big  business  interests. 

Our  Creator,  our  family,  our  country  we  should  love, 
This  we  must  show  by  our  actions  now  begun. 
If  happiness,  prosperity  and  contentment  we  are  to  gain, 
Lest  we  will  continue  to  be  cursed  by  the  present  Simmons  reign. 


78  MEMORIES 


When  the  honest  and  righteous  rule,  the  people  rejoice, 
Not  since  the  Simmons  machine  has  debauched  the  good  name  of  our 

State, 
Now  isn't  it  time  for  all  honest  people  to  be  on  the  go, 
And  dethrone  the  wicked  who  should  not  be  allowed  to  rule  any  more. 

If  peace  and  justice  you  and  your  family  are  to  have, 
Arouse  your  neighbors  and  do  all  you  can 
To  elect  a  man  we  can  all  trust  and  understand. 
And  happiness  and  contentment  will  no  longer  shun  our  land. 

Honest  men,  our  State  will  shun, 
If  many  reforms  from  this  wicked  reign  is  not  begun, 
In  this  we  are  expected  to  do  our  best. 
Then  we  all  will  see  that  to  elect  honest  men  will  be  the  best. 


CHAPTER  IX 


POLITICS    IN    THE    CITY 


During  this  time,  the  city  government  of  the  largest  city 
of  the  east  had  changed  hands.  The  leader  who  had  ruled 
it  for  about  fifteen  years,  and  most  of  the  time  had  been 
its  mayor,  was  soon  to  be  elected  again,  as  the  city  had  five 
wards,  each  electing  two  aldermen,  and  they  in  turn  electing 
one  of  their  number  as  mayor.  Knowing  the  art  of  ward 
politics,  he  would  have  two  of  his  friends  in  each  ward  to 
run,  having  disbursement  of  most  of  the  funds,  he  and  his 
friends  for  the  city  government,  working  streets  and  all 
other  work  needed,  he  naturally  knew  how  to  keep  his  fences 
in  order;  besides,  he  had  the  largest  clothing  and  gents' 
furnishing  store  in  that  section  of  the  State,  and  any  who 
would  vote  for  him,  it  was  said,  could  run  an  account  at  his 
store. 

When  the  time  came  for  his  next  election,  a  notice  was 
given  of  a  caucus  to  be  held  by  the  voters  of  his  ward  to 
meet  on  a  certain  night,  and  select  a  candidate  to  be  voted 
for  the  following  night,  the  program  going  through  as 
planned.  Bennie  was  out  of  the  city  for  a  few  days,  and  on 
reaching  his  ofiice  about  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  it  was  not  many 
minutes  before  there  came  into  his  place  a  broker.  Bennie 
inquired  for  the  news  of  the  city.  The  broker  said :  "I 
suppose  that  you  have  heard  about  the  caucus  last  night." 
Bennie  replied  that  he  hadn't  and  asked  to  be  told  all  about 
it.  He  was  then  told  that  the  same  old  candidate  was 
nominated  for  mayor  that  they  had  tried  to  defeat  for  fifteen 
years,  and  his  re-election  was  practically  certain.  ''What 
is  being  done  to  defeat  him  ?"  Bennie  asked.  ''Not  a  thing," 
said  the  broker,  "as  we  have  decided  it  is  useless.  He  has 
so  much  money  and  the  city  machinery  is  in  his  hands  so 
completely  that  we  have  decided  not  to  make  another  useless 

[79] 


80  MEMORIES 


fight  on  him."  Bennie  said  that  he  would  not  let  him  walk 
over  again  if  it  could  be  prevented,  and  asked  the  broker, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  faithful  ones  to  relieve  the  city  of 
its  burdens,  who  would,  in  his  opinion,  form  a  good  committee 
to  have  in  conference.  The  broker  gave  him  twelve  names 
wi'itten  on  a  slip  of  paper,  including  the  two  who  were 
talking.  In  a  few  seconds  he  was  at  the  telephone  calling 
each  one  as  their  names  appeared  on  the  list,  asking  if  they 
would  come  down  there  at  once.  Each  wanted  to  know 
^'What  is  it  ?"  The  answer  was  that  it  was  too  important 
to  tell  over  the  telephone.  J^aturally  each  one's  curiosity  was 
aroused,  and  their  answer  was  "Yes." 

In  less  than  a  half  hour,  all  were  there,  and  they  were 
asked  to  go  back  where  persons  on  the  street  could  not  see 
them.  As  soon  as  all  were  there,  Bennie  explained  the 
object  of  the  call.  All  thought  like  the  broker,  when  told 
that  the  object  was  to  keep  it  from  being  known  to  the  other 
side,  and  that  the  only  hope  was  to  catch  them  on  the  blind 
side,  as  that  was  the  case  of  the  leader.  The  first  thing 
that  was  asked  was,  would  each  one  start  out  at  once,  and 
see  every  "anti"  man  in  his  block,  when  he  went  for  his 
lunch,  and  get  them  to  get  all  the  anti  men  that  they  could, 
to  meet  at  the  same  place  at  four  o'clock  sharp,  but  to  go 
upstairs  by  a  back  step  so  as  to  attract  as  little  attention  as 
possible,  but  to  bind  every  man  who  came  to  secrecy. 

At  four  o'clock  sharp,  there  were  between  thirty  and  forty 
men  upstairs,  seated  on  benches  or  planks,  supported  by  boxes, 
etc.  As  soon  as  the  meeting  was  explained  to  those  that 
were  not  at  the  meeting  in  the  forenoon,  the  first  question 
that  came  up  was  whom  would  they  suggest  for  alderman. 
In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it,  some  one  had  proposed 
Bennie's  name,  and  before  he  had  time  to  say  anything,  it 
was  agreed  to  by  every  man  there.  Having  no  desire  for 
it  or  any  other  ofiice,  he  refused  to  let  his  name  be  used, 
but  suggested  a  neighbor  who  lived  next  door  to  him,  and 
insisted  on  making  him  the  candidate,  but  there  was  so  much 


POLITICS  IN  THE  CITY  S] 

u|)pi)sition  to  his  name  that  it  was  withdrawn,  and  anothei' 
man  who  was  present,  and  there  was  no  better  in  the  towii, 
was  nominated  and  elected  nnanimonsly.  It  was  five-thirty 
p.  m.  and  no  tickets  printed,  and  the  real  primary  was  to 
commence  at  eight  p.  m.  A  committee  was  sent  to  a  friendly 
printing  house,  with  instructions  to  stay  there  and  have  the 
tickets  ready  by  seven-forty.  At  seven-thirty,  the  antis  began 
to  come,  as  every  anti  had  promised  to  be  there  that  was  in 
the  ward. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  large  building  was  well  crowded,  but 
no  tickets  yet.  Bennie  paced  the  floor  up  and  down  stairs, 
smoking  his  cigar,  often  chewing  the  end  off ;  every  anti  man 
would  either  smile  as  he  passed  or  stop  to  ask  a  question  in 
a  low  voice,  receiving  as  an  answer  only  a  nod  or  a  shake 
of  the  head.  Becoming  more  and  more  impatient  about 
the  tickets,  he  went  down  to  the  sidewalk,  and  saw  two  men 
coming  in  a  gait  between  a  walk  and  a  trot.  He  soon  recog- 
nized them  and  as  soon  as  they  were  near  enough,  the  tickets 
were  handed  to  him,  but  he  gave  one  package  back  and  asked 
that  they  help  to  distribute  them,  quietly  to  all  the  antis. 
When  all  the  tickets  were  distributed  to  the  right  crowd,  it 
was  going  on  to  nine  o'clock. 

The  cry  soon  began,  open  the  polls  to  the  registrar,  who 
held  the  books,  and  while  more  time  was  asked,  so  that  others 
might  get  there,  the  demand  to  open  the  polls  could  not  be 
resisted,  and  then  two  men  with  tally  sheets  to  take  the  names 
of  all  the  voters,  asserting  whom  he  voted  for  (though  every 
anti  man  knew  every  other  anti  man  in  his  ward),  and  as 
some  of  them  had  hunted  foxes  with  their  hounds,  they  knew 
that  every  once  in  a  while  they  would  come  to  an  old 
cunning  fellow  that  would  fool  the  dogs  every  time,  and  it 
would  often  be  years  before  he  was  captured,  so  all  of  a  kind, 
who  had  been  chasing  the  old  fox  for  about  fifteen  years, 
knew  that  he  had  to  be  watched  to  the  very  last  minute. 
"When  the  ballot  box  was  opened,  the  old  fox's  fellows  flocked 
up  and  shot  their  big  gun  at  the  beginning,  but  when  the 
6 


82  '  MEMORIES 


antis  began,  they  kept  tilings  moving  so  fast  that  it  was 
seen  by  the  old  fox's  men  that  they  were  outwitted,  and 
when  time  came  to  close  the  books  and  count  the  votes,  the 
antis  had  won  by  a  majority  of  about  eighteen,  to  the  surprise 
of  the  entire  city.  The  old  pro-crowd  were  so  certain  that  it 
would  be  only  a  ratification  meeting  that  there  was  no  great 
eifort  to  get  their  vote  out. 

This  was  the  first  time  the  old  fox  had  been  defeated  in 
about  fifteen  years  and  meant  that  he  would  not  be  mayor 
the  next  term.  The  regular  election  came  oft"  in  a  few  weeks 
and  each  of  the  candidates  that  were  nominated  in  the 
Democratic  caucuses  were  elected ;  the  legislature,  under  the 
influence  of  the  governor,  had  gotten  through  a  special  act 
to  appoint  one  alderman  from  each  ward  and  the  voters  to 
elect  the  other  one.  There  being  five  wards,  it  meant  five 
to  be  appointed  and  five  to  be  elected.  There  were  more 
whites  than  negroes  in  all  the  wards  except  two.  The  negroes 
generally  voted  for  whomever  their  boss  told  them  to,  some- 
times a  Democrat  and  sometimes  a  Republican,  so  the  negro 
had  always  been  represented  on  the  board  of  aldermen.  The 
governor  had  named  three  white  men,  with  the  three  whites 
that  were  already  elected,  and  was  being  besieged  to  name 
the  fourth  white  man,  which  he  said  he  would  do,  but  the 
Democrats,  who  camped  at  the  capital,  wanted  the  defeated 
mayor  named,  or  at  least  one  of  his  kind.  Also  they  wanted 
him  to  use  his  influence  to  have  the  old  incompetent  chief 
of  the  fire  department,  who  worshipped  his  position  more 
than  he  did  anything  else,  as  they  drew  seventeen  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  from  the  city  on  which  to  have  a  good 
time. 

The  runners  ran  fast,  and  every  day  you  could  hear  of 
different  delegations  that  were  at  the  capital,  pleading  with 
the  governor  to  appoint  this  one  or  that  one,  and  it  was  the 
fox  crowd  that  was  generally  before  him,  but  a  week  before 
time  for  the  aldermen  to  meet  and  organize,  Bennie  received 
a  telegram  from  the  governor,  asking  him  if  he  would  accept 


POLITICS  IN  THE  CITY  83 

the  aldennaifs  place  from  his  ward.  Beniiie  wrote  him  that 
he  could  not  see  why  he  should  offer  him  the  place,  that  there 
were  but  few  who  w^ould  not  accept  it,  including  Democrats 
who  had  voted  for  the  governor,  while  Bennie  did  not  ever 
raise  his  voice,  or  his  paper  in  his  behalf,  and  had  besides 
spent  several  days  at  the  capital,  writing  bushels  of  letters  try- 
ing to  persuade  the  Bourbon  machine  to  co-operate  with  the 
Populists,  and  carrying  the  State  as  the  electoral  vote  was, 
while  he  felt  kindly  towards  him  for  the  kindness  shown 
his  father  during  the  war,  but  did  not  attend  the  governor's 
inaugTiral  reception  when  he  was  in  the  capital.  (He  also 
wired  the  governor  on  receipt  of  his  telegrams  thanking  him 
and  stating  that  he  could  not  accept.)  He  then  wired  his  first 
lieutenant,  who  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  audit  and 
finance  of  the  city,  the  others  were  Democrats  and  had  been 
for  years,  giving  the  entire  control  of  the  finance  to  the  Demo- 
crats, as  every  dollar  that  was  expended  had  to  be  approved 
by  them  before  they  could  get  the  money.  So  when  the  chair- 
man came  to  see  Bennie  with  his  urgent  request  from  the 
governor  to  accept,  stating  that  he  knew  he  was  honest  and 
would  give  the  city  his  best  efforts  and  see  that  no  grafting 
was  allow^ed  as  it  appeared  in  former  administrations,  his 
reply  to  the  chairman  was  the  same  as  it  had  been  to  the 
governor,  only  he  told  him  that  he  was  offered  the  place 
by  the  Democrats  and  had  refused,  but  got  a  good  man  in  his 
place.  The  chairman  said  that  the  same  old  gang  that  had 
used  the  city  so  long  as  if  it  belonged  to  them,  were  camping 
on  the  governor's  campus  and  that  if  he  did  not  take  it, 
one  of  them  would  no  doubt  get  it.  Bennie  answered  that  he 
was  sorry,  but  that  he  did  not  want  it,  and  did  not  have 
the  time  to  attend  to  it.  That  night  about  nine  o'clock  his 
doorbell  rang ;  when  he  answered  it,  he  found  the  chairman, 
with  another  telegram  telling  him  to  see  Bennie,  and  ask 
him  w^here  his  patriotism  was  that  he  preached  so  long  in 
his  paper,  that  every  man  owed  to  his  home  and  his  coimtry 
enough  of  his  time  and  thought  to  help  make  it  a  better  place 


84  MEMORIES 


to  live  in,  and  said  further  that  if  he  didn't  accept,  that  he 
would  see  some  one  else  appointed  he  would  not  like  to  have 
the  place;  also  that  the  fine  work  that  had  been  done  would 
be  lost  if  Bennie  refused.  Bennie  tried  to  suggest  several 
names  to  him,  but  he  said  every  man  nearly  in  his  ward 
had  been  mentioned  that  was  worth  considering.  When  he 
was  leaving  Bennie  asked  him  to  let  him  have  until  the  next 
afternoon  to  see  some  of  his  friends.  He  agreed,  saying 
that  he  would  wire  the  governor  that  he  would  let  him  have 
a  definite  answer  on  the  next  afternoon  before  six  o'clock. 

He  worried  all  the  night,  thinking  over  the  matter.  Early 
the  next  morning,  as  he  left  his  home,  he  saw  every  anti  man 
he  could,  and  asked  them  what  to  do.  Every  single  one 
insisted  on  his  taking  the  place,  by  all  means,  even  going  so 
far  as  to  condemn  him  harshly  for  not  taking  it  at  first. 
Going  from  home  after  lunch,  he  met  the  chairman  at  two 
o'clock  at  the  postoffice,  and  told  him  his  friends  had  per- 
suaded him  to  accept  the  place.  He  wheeled  at  once  and 
said  that  he  would  go  and  send  the  telegram.  Speaking  of 
the  chairman,  there  was  no  better  business  man  in  the  city. 
With  all  the  dealings  Bennie  had  had  with  him  and  his  firm, 
selling  them  hundreds  of  thousands  of  shingles  for  their 
foreign  trade,  he  never  had  the  least  trouble  or  misunder- 
standing with  any  of  the  firm.     The  only  thing  that  they 

could  say  was,  "Mr.  C is  a  Eepublican,  though  a  high 

Mason,  and  stood  equally  as  high  in  his  church." 

The  next  morning  the  announcement  of  the  appointment 
was  made.  Bennie  had  gained  the  prejudice  and  animosity 
of  many  of  the  politicians  by  his  preferment  over  the  pro- 
fessional politician  by  being  chosen  as  a  Bryan  elector,  and 
one  of  the  two  men  in  the  State  whom  Bryan  personally 
requested  to  go  with  him  in  his  private  car  over  the  State 
during  his  campaign,  and  he  was  also  invited  to  be  one  of 
the  three  guests  of  Vanderbilt  for  three  days  when  he  gave 
his  great  banquet  in  the  interest  of  forest  protection.  All 
these  things  were  too  nnich  for  some,  and  they  began  to  wins- 


I'U  LIT  It's  JX   THE  CITY  ST. 

per  it  around  that  if  Bryan  was  elected,  the  coimtryman 
from  the  backwoods  would  have  the  say  as  to  every  office  to 
be  given  out.  Many  were  asking  what  office  he  was  going 
to  have;  his  choice,  of  course,  some  would  say,  although 
Bennie  assured  them  that  he  did  not  want  a  single  office. 
Then  some  would  ask  who  was  furnishing  the  money  that  it 
took  to  do  the  work  he  was  doing,  to  which  he  could  truth- 
fully reply  that  every  cent  he  was  spending  was  coming  out 
of  his  own  pocket,  as  he  had  not  received  one  cent  for  what 
he  was  doing,  and  never  expected  to.  That  was  another 
puzzle  to  those  who  made  politics  a  financial  gain,  rather 
than  that  of  duty  one  owes  to  his  country,  as  long  as  he  is 
able  to  help  make  better  government. 

Before  the  day  arrived  for  the  organization  of  the  board 
of  aldermen,  he  had  seen  two  of  the  Republican  aldermen 
appointed  by  the  governor,  both  being  contractors,  Bennie 
having  sold  them  shingles  for  years.  He  got  their  faithful 
promise  that  they  would  vote  with  him,  and  the  three  Demo- 
crats elected  to  organize  the  board ;  but  the  defeated,  who 
had  made  their  money  out  of  controlling  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  began  to  use  their  influence  to  keep  the  Democrats  that 
were  elected  from  qualifying.  Having  heard  of  their  inten- 
tions, each  of  them  was  seen  and  urged  to  qualify  when  the 
day  came,  and  each  promised  to  do  so. 

The  morning  they  were  to  be  sworn  in,  each  was  present 
to  take  the  oath  of  office.  A  few  minutes  before  the  time  for 
them  to  take  the  oath,  three  of  the  leaders,  including  the  de- 
feated mayor  and  disgruntled  who  were  defeated  at  the  pri- 
mary, as  well  as  at  the  capital,  marched  up,  each  taking  one 
of  the  elected  Democrats  by  the  arm  out  on  the  street,  per- 
suading them  not  to  qualify,  as  it  all  was  unconstitutional 
and  w^ould  be  so  held  by  the  higher  courts.  These  dis- 
appointed politicians,  after  pleading  earnestly  for  ever  so 
long,  finally  succeeded  in  getting  them  not  to  qualify.  This 
was  their  first  successful  move  in  bringing  about  what  was 
their    aim.      The    others    were    sworn    in,    but    postponed 


86  MEMORIES 


organizing,  waiting  on  the  others  to  qnalifv,  but  in 
the  meantime  influence  was  brought  to  bear  on  Bennie 
to  get  him  to  refuse  to  serve.  His  answer  was,  that  he  did 
not  want  the  place,  and  only  accepted  it  in  order  that  he 
might  be  able  to  help  protect  the  interests  of  his  city,  and 
he  felt  that  if  ever  the  city  needed  him  and  the  other  Demo- 
crats that  were  elected,  it  was  then,  and  he  expected  to  stand 
by  the  old  town — not  the  Republican  party — doing,  without 
pay  Or  hope  of  reward,  all  that  he  could  to  protect  its  rights. 

When  he  could  not  prevail  upon  the  rest  of  the  aldermen 
to  wait  longer  on  the  three  Democrats  to  qualify,  they  then 
went  into  organizing  the  city's  government.  When  this  was 
agreed  to  by  the  majority,  Bennie  saw  that  his  hope  and 
plans  were  defeated,  but  refused  to  go  into  a  secret  caucus 
to  name  the  officers,  as  he  reminded  them  that,  as  it  stood 
then,  the  Republicans  would  control  the  caucus,  and  if  he 
went  into  it  he  would  be  bound  by  its  action,  which  he  refused 
to  do,  but  would  vote  for  men  he  thought  worthy  and  com- 
petent of  holding  various  positions.  When  the  caucus  had 
finished  its  work  and  came  out  to  make  its  report,  he  voted 
against  every  one  that  he  thought  not  competent  of  filling 
the  place  as  well  as  they  could  be  filled  by  some  others,  and 
put  in  nomination  some  one  to  be  substituted,  but  the  tAvo 
who  had  promised  to  help  organize  saw  that  there  was  no 
chance  after  the  three  were  kept  from  (jualifying  and  serv- 
ing; and  while  efforts  were  mostly  futile  in  getting  in  those 
that  were  suggested  by  him,  there  were  some  very  good  men 
put  in  different  places,  though  only  a  few  Democrats. 

When  the  various  committees  were  created  to  take  care  of 
the  city's  financial  interests,  Bennie  was  named  as  head  of 
each,  such  as  chairman  of  finance,  street  improvements, 
water-works,  and  fire  department,  which  was  more  than 
plenty;  but  he  tackled  his  job  like  he  did  his  own  business, 
beginning  by  cutting  off  everything  that  appeared  as  favors 
rather  than  business.  After  three  months  work  with  the 
clerk  of  the  board  of  audit  and  finance,  who  was  a  Demo- 


rof.rrirs  /.v  the  city 


crat,  and  no  one  with  liigiier  character,  working  from  eight 
o'clock  nntil  eleven  at  night,  the  budget  was  completed, 
which  enabled  a  reduction  of  ten  cents  on  the  tax  rate,  mak- 
ing the  rate  eighty-three  instead  of  ninety-three,  which  gave 
an  income  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  a  year.  The 
expenses  of  the  fire  department  were  cut  down,  and  after  he 
and  the  clerk  of  finance  committee  got  through  with  shaving, 
they  had  appropriated  eleven  thousand  dollars  instead  of 
seventeen  thousand  five  hundred,  as  they  had  been  getting. 
This  was  not  done  until  an  estimate  of  all  the  feed,  drivers, 
blacksmiths,  hose,  engines,  etc.,  had  been  ascertained.  When 
totaled  up,  it  was  about  one-half  of  what  they  had  been 
drawing  from  the  city  under  the  former  city  administration, 
but  there  were  about  three  hundred  of  them,  most  all  boosters 
for  the  old  regime,  who  were  so  free-hearted  in  allowing  them 
such  heavy  allowance  to  keep  up  their  pool  clubs,  etc.,  their 
wines  and  their  dines ;  and  they,  being  volunteers,  had  to  be 
at  their  work. 

The  town  was  suffering  at  such  a  rate  with  fire  losses  that 
the  leading  fire  insurance  companies  were  threatening  a  with- 
drawal from  it,  but  the  row  was  on  when  they  learned  of  the 
estimate  for  the  department,  the  newspapers  of  the  city  being 
completely  in  sympathy  with  them,  and  the  three  hundred 
firemen,  counting  five  to  the  family,  there  were  one  thousand 
five  hundred  people,  with  all  their  friends  who  had  put  on 
the  w^ar  paint,  besides  the  old  fox  with  his  new  lieutenants, 
especially  two  who  were  with  him  to  keep  the  men  who  had 
been  elected  to  serve  from  doing  so.  The  next  day  the 
announcement  was  in  the  papers  of  the  cut  in  the  allowance 
that  was  made,  with  woeful,  threatening  editorials.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  old  fox  was  still  the  largest  clothing 
dealer,  and  the  papers  pronouncing  an  anathema  on  the 
heads  of  the  incompetent  rulers  of  the  city's  affairs.  The 
papers  gave  notice  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of  all  the 
controllers  of  the  fire  companies  that  night  to  decide  what 
they  would  do.     They  held  this  meeting  and  passed  resolu- 


88  MEMORIES 


tions  condemning  the  outrage,  and  said  the  keys  of  the  fire 
department  houses,  etc,  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  fire  com- 
mittee, as  they  refused  to  serve  any  longer.  The  chairman 
of  the  board  of  audit  and  finance  saw  Bennie  as  soon  as  he 
reached  his  ofiice,  and  asked  him  what  was  to  be  done,  as  the 
mayor  was  all  up  in  the  air,  as  he  did  not  know  what  to  do. 
The  chairman  of  the  audit  of  finance  was  in  his  buggy,  and 
he  was  asked  if  he  would  go  up  to  the  mayor's  office  and  ask 
him  if  he  would  send  some  of  the  best  policemen  around  to 
each  of  the  fire  departments  and  get  the  keys  and  keep  guard 
over  the  property  until  new  men  could  be  gotten,  and  see 
those  who  manned  the  engines,  equipment,  etc.,  that  they 
were  receiving  regular  salaries.  By  twelve  o'clock  the  chair- 
man came  back  and  all  instructions  had  been  carried  out, 
and  all  the  regular  employees  had  agreed  to  remain.  Before 
night,  several  of  the  volunteers  had  learned  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  fire  department  to  organize  a  paid  depart- 
ment, and  there  were  soon  enough  applicants  to  handle  the 
department  better  than  by  volunteers.  But  when  the  notice 
was  in  the  papers  of  the  companies  that  had  resigned,  the 
oldest  company  had  not  made  its  decision,  but  would  that 
night.  Bennie  lost  no  time  in  seeing  its  captain,  and  asked 
him  not  to  let  his  company  resign,  and  told  him  his  intention, 
and  while  its  captain  was  considered  the  best  fireman  in  office 
in  the  city,  he  was  told  that  if  he  would  stand  by  his  city  in 
its  hour  of  need,  he  would  see  that  he  was  made  chief,  if  he 
wanted  it.  The  third  chief,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  his 
old  company,  had  been  offered  another  good  place. 

At  the  meeting  that  night,  the  action  of  the  old  company 
was  postponed.  The  chief  of  the  paid  fire  department  of 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  was  asked  if  he  would  come  and  give  instruc- 
tions of  how  to  organize  the  city's  paid  fire  department,  etc. 
The  wire  came  back,  "Yes."  He  was  there  in  a  few  days, 
and  all  plans  were  made  and  extra  equipment  ordered.  About 
this  time  fires  were  springing  up  all  over  the  city,  day  and 
night,  which  gave  the  mouthpiece  of  the  controlled  press  more 


POLITIC!^  IX  THE  CITY  89 


excuse  to  pour  out  its  vitriol  upon  the  incompetent  negro 
administration,  when  the  negroes  had  no  more  to  do  with  it 
than  the  man  in  the  moon.  But  the  politicians  in  the  city,  as 
well  as  many  over  the  State,  saw  that  their  point  was  made. 
The  fires  grew  more  and  larger,  until  the  largest  school  build- 
ing was  burned  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  next  night  a 
large  vessel  on  the  water  front  was  burned,  with  minor  fires 
here  and  there.  When  it  was  at  its  worst,  the  State  press 
commenced  their  howl  of  sympathy  for  the  negro-ruled  town 
that  was  being  destroyed  as  fast  as  time  would  let  it. 

When  the  State  papers  began  in  earnest  in  their  blind 
indignation,  it  was  the  general  topic  of  the  streets,  and  no 
doubt  martial  law  would  have  been  asked  for,  if  the  governor 
had  not  been  a  Kepublican.  It  had  gotten  so  hard  on  the 
nerves  of  the  chairman  of  the  audit  and  finance  committee,  as 
well  as  the  mayor,  that  the  chairman  rushed  to  Bennie :  "My 
God,  what  are  we  to  do  ?  They  are  going  to  burn  the  city  if 
we  don't  turn  the  fire  department  over  to  them."  "There  is 
nothing  else  to  do,"  Bennie  answered.  "The  most  sensible 
people  of  the  city  must  know  it  is  not  the  negroes,  and  if  they 
haven't  patriotism  enough  to  help  save  the  to\vn  by  helping 
to  get  up  with  the  firebugs,  the  town  had  just  as  well  burn, 
as  there  is  no  hope  for  it." 

About  the  time  that  the  chief  came  from  Atlanta,  there 
was  another  big  fire  on  the  river  front,  and  the  next  day  the 
topic  of  the  streets  was  the  fire  and  the  need  of  the  old  de- 
partment. During  the  day,  a  young  man,  about  grown,  from 
Bonnie's  neighborhood,  told  him  that  he  saw  the  man  that 
set  fire  to  the  tar  yard,  when  he  lit  a  newspaper  and  applied 
it  to  the  tar  on  the  yard.  W^ien  the  fire  first  started,  the 
light  of  it  showed  through  the  cabin  door  of  the  lighter  that 
was  tied  to  the  wharf  at  the  yard  where  the  fire  began.  When 
asked  if  he  knew  the  name  of  the  man,  he  said  that  he  did 
not,  but  saw  him  buy  a  pint  of  whiskey  the  day  before  from 
a  groceryman,  and  that  he  would  know  him  if  he  saw  him 
again.    He  was  asked  to  keep  a  watch  on  the  streets  for  him, 


90  MEMORIES 


and  where  he  saw  him  buying  the  whiskey,  and  if  he  found 
him,  not  to  say  anything,  but  to  hunt  a  policeman,  and  tell 
him  to  arrest  the  man  at  once.  Before  night  he  had  found 
his  man,  also  the  policeman,  who  arrested  him  and  took  him 
to  the  gaiard-house.  The  young  man  from  Bennie's  neighbor- 
hood was  positive  enough  to  swear  that  it  was  the  man  he 
saw  set  fire  to  the  tar  yard,  and  the  guilty  man  was  found 
to  be  one  of  the  members  of  the  volunteer  fire  department,  as 
well  as  having  been  a  warm  supporter  of  the  old  mayor. 

The  firebug  was  tried,  convicted,  and  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary for  a  number  of  years,  and  the  mysterious  fires  ceased, 
and  the  newspaper  organs  had  no  comment  to  make  when  it 
was  found  out  who  was  doing  the  burning,  and  the  three 
chiefs  of  the  plotters  had  to  take  new  steps  to  carry  out  their 
plots.  About  the  close  of  the  year,  it  was  seen  that  taxes 
were  being  reduced,  with  the  treasury  in  better  shape  than 
it  had  been  in  some  years,  with  a  paid  fire  department,  the 
only  one  in  the  State,  costing  only  about  twenty  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and  all  extra  equipment  had  been  paid  for  out 
of  the  first  year's  budget.  Also  the  National  Insurance 
Company's  Association  that  were  threatening  to  withdraw 
from  the  insurance  in  the  city  had  ordered  a  reduction  in 
their  rates,  which  saved  the  citizens  twenty  thousand  dollars 
on  insurance  the  first  year. 

When  the  board  of  aldermen  were  electing  their  men  to 
hold  certain  positions,  Bennie  voted  alone  most  of  the  time. 
A  wire  came  from  the  governor  to  elect  the  old  fire  chief,  who 
had  charge  of  the  old  volunteer  department,  but  as  it  had  been 
promised  to  a  competent  man,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  pro- 
tect the  city  in  time  of  peril,  notwithstanding  that  all  mis- 
representation that  could  be  heaped  on  any  city  was  resorted 
to  by  the  plotters.  The  chairman  of  the  fire  committee 
told  the  remainder  of  the  board  if  they  decided  to  obey  the 
governor  to  accept  his  resignation  from  the  Board.  This 
was  made  known  to  the  governor  and  he  wired  back  to  let 


POLITICS  IX   TJIK  CITY  91 


hini  liiivo  his  way,  and  the  eliief  who  had  served  so  loii"-  with 
such  ability  still  proves  himself  to  be  worthy  of  the  position 
he  holds. 

The  several  hundred  thousand  bushels  of  oyster  shells  that 
had  been  contracted  for  paving  the  streets  wQve  cancelled,  with 
threats  of  a  suit  against  the  city  by  one  of  the  right  hand 
bowers  of  the  former  mayor,  which  was  another  coal  to  help 
keep  the  fires  burning,  but  it  was  seen  that  streets  made  out  of 
such  inferior  material  were  not  fit  for  a  city ;  the  lime  dust 
was  ruining  the  paint  on  the  dwellings  as  well  as  the  furni- 
ture on  the  inside.  Arrangements  were  made  by  the  chair- 
man of  finance  of  the  board  of  aldermen,  by  getting  the 
audit  committee  to  approve  same,  to  buy  machinery  to 
crush  suitable  rock  that  was  found  some  miles  from  the  city 
and  while  it  was  being  hauled  into  the  city,  real  street  work 
began  by  beginning  at  certain  places  in  the  city  to  give  it 
a  thorough  test.  It  was  found  to  be  fine  street  material, 
and  that  was  the  beginning  of  giving  the  city  and  county 
the  best  streets  and  highways  in  the  State. 

The  street  chairman  soon  began  to  work  to  get  the  city 
to  own  and  operate  its  own  water  works,  as  the  one  that 
it  had  then  was  a  disgrace.  Water  was  so  polluted  that  it 
was  not  fit  for  washing  purposes,  much  less  for  drinking,  and 
he  got  the  board  of  aldermen  to  pass  a  resolution  empower- 
ing the  chairman  of  the  water  committee,  with  the  consent 
of  the  majority  of  the  audit  and  finance  committee,  to 
negotiate  with  a  contractor  for  the  drilling  of  a  well,  and 
erecting  a  plant  with  what  surplus  there  was  in  the  city 
treasury,  and  the  back  taxes  that  were  not  paid,  though 
could  be  collected.  The  advertisement  was  inserted  in  the 
Manufacturer's  Record,  and  other  journals,  and  there  were 
plenty  of  bidders.  The  contract  was  made  with  a  party  in 
Pennsylvania.  They  were  to  be  paid  so  much  per  foot  for 
a  suitable  sized  well  and  were  to  stop  as  soon  as  a  sufficient 
flow  of  water,  fit,  by  chemical  tests,  for  domestic  use,  was 


92  MEMORIES 


obtained.  And  they  were  not  to  receive  any  pay  until  the 
work  was  completed  in  a  satisfactory  manner  to  the  chair- 
man and  chemist  of  the  city. 

When  the  contractor  had  all  of  his  outfit,  three  or  four 
car  loads,  on  the  spot  and  began  work,  he  was  notified  by 
a  director  of  the  leading  bank  that  if  he  drilled  the  well  he 
would  get  no  pay  for  it,  as  the  board  of  audit  and  finance 
had  not  given  any  approval  of  the  city's  contract,  and  would 
not.  The  chairman  of  the  audit  and  finance  committee  and 
one  other  of  the  three  on  the  committee,  who  was  a  Democrat, 
which  was  a  majority  of  the  three,  told  Bemiie  that  they 
highly  approved  the  drilling  of  the  well,  and  that  they 
would  stand  with  him,  the  Democrat  even  patting  him  on  the 
shoulder,  commending  him  for  his  courage,  and  they  said 
that  up  to  then  every  man  that  attempted  to  force  the  com- 
pany to  give  good  water,  was  managed  to  be  defeated  for  re- 
election if  he  dared  to  run  again  as  a  candidate  for  alder- 
man, but  they  asked  that  he  go  on  with  the  good  work  that 
was  so  much  needed.  However,  it  was  only  two  or  three 
weeks  after  when  they  saw  the  city  would  soon  own  its  water 
works  when  every  director  in  this  big  bank,  even  the  one  who 
patted  him  on  the  shoulder,  bidding  him  God-speed  in  his 
good  work,  began  fighting  the  new  water  works  plant.  The 
chairman  of  that  board,  whose  partner  was  one  of  the 
directors,  began  to  doubt  when  the  showdown  came. 

When  the  cause  of  the  change  of  forces  was  found  out, 
it  was  said  that  this  big  bank  had  about  sixty  thousand  dollars 
of  the  old  water  works  company  bonds  being  hypothecated 
in  this  bank,  and  it  meant  no  doubt  a  big  loss  to  them  if  the 
city  should  have  a  plant  of  its  own.  The  chairman  fought 
on,  threatening  to  force  by  law  if  possible  the  approval  of 
the  contract  that  they  had  given  verbally.  The  committee 
of  audit  and  finance  saw  that  something  had  to  be  done, 
and  proposed  that  if  the  old  company  would  give  the  man 
that  was  there  to  dig  the  city's  well  a  contract  to  dig  them  a 
now  well  and  gauirantee  good  domestic  water  fit  for  all  pur- 


POLITICS  IX  THE  CITY  93 

poses,  would  the  chairman  be  satisfied?  He  told  them  no, 
in  the  presence  of  its  officers,  that  all  towns  and  cities  ought 
to  own  not  only  their  water  and  sewage  systems,  but  should 
own  their  gas  and  electric  plants,  and  also  operate  its  own 
street  car  lines.  However,  seeing  that  he  was  up  against  it 
with  the  board  of  audit  and  finance,  he  agreed  that  if 
they  would  give  pure  water  in  six  months  time,  and  twelve 
fountains  for  the  people's  use,  as  well  as  for  the  animal's 
free  use,  to  be  placed  in  the  city  wherever  the  chairman  of 
water  designated,  and  would  give  a  contract  agreeing  to  do 
it,  in  a  certain  number  of  months,  he  would  cease  on  it  then. 

The  chairman  met  the  officers  of  the  water  works  com- 
pany, and  there  was  an  iron-clad  contract  drawn  up  to  be 
fulfilled  in  six  months.  This  made  the  old  contract  with 
the  city  null  and  void,  though  it  had  been  broken  repeatedly 
for  years.  The  chairman  had  the  contract  put  in  an  enve- 
lope, marked  and  put  in  among  the  city's  contracts,  in  the 
city's  safe.  ISTot  living  up  to  their  contract,  a  few  months 
after  the  plotters  overthrew  the  city  government,  one  of 
their  officers  being  prominent  in  the  overthrow.  When  things 
became  more  sane  again,  there  was  no  second  contract  to  be 
found,  the  ox  having  known  his  master's  crib.  The  same 
energy  was  used  to  get  the  city  to  own  its  ferry,  that  was 
hindering  the  progress  of  the  city,  but  after  an  order  was 
gotten  through  the  board  of  aldermen  empowering  the 
city  to  buy,  it  was  rushed  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  for 
its  indorsement  as  a  matter  of  courtesy,  but  the  o\\'ners  of 
the  stock  were  prominent  members  who  stood  always  with 
special  interests,  and  their  influence  kept  the  chamber  from 
naming  a  committee  for  thirty  days  after  the  resolution  to 
go  to  the  capital  to  have  the  bill  passed,  until  the  prime 
mover  in  getting  the  free  ferry,  or  bridge,  saw  the  object 
of  the  president  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  was  to  block 

it.    He  then  wrote  to  Dr.  McN ,  who  was  a  State  senator 

from  the  adjoining  county,  and  asked  that  he  get  through 
a  bill   before   adjournment,    empowering  the   city  to   issue 


94  MEMORIES 


bonds  to  buy  same.  He  did  so  and  three  days  before  the 
legislature  adjourned,  the  president  of  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce appointed  his  committee  to  go  to  Ealeigh  to  get  the 
bill  through.  His  notice  was  answered,  and  he  thanted  him 
for  his  fine  spirit,  but  informed  him  that  the  bill  had  been 
passed  two  weeks,  if  not,  then  it  would  have  been  too  late, 
as  no  new  bills  would  be  considered  fifteen  days  before 
adjournment. 

The  negotiating  began — two  business  men,  both  Democrats, 
and  the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  to  negotiate 
the  deal.  The  OMmers  wanted  about  three  times  what  the 
committee  thought  it  was  worth,  but  the  chairman  saw  the 
need  of  it  for  the  city's  interest,  so  much  so  that  he  got 
the  committee  to  double  what  they  thought  was  a  big  price 
for  it.  Even  then  they  wanted  more  but  the  two  citizens 
that  were  on  the  committee  would  not  consent,  and  it  was 
left  to  rest,  to  be  taken  up  later.  When  the  plotters  suc- 
ceeded, a  few  months  afterwards,  it  was  sold  for  a  good  deal 
less  than  half  to  private  parties  of  what  they  were  offered 
by  the  city,  and  for  twenty  years  the  heavy  tolls  to  a  private 
corporation  were  paid,  as  it  had  been  for  years  before. 

This  was  one  of  the  troubles  of  the  old  citv,  that  ouoht 
to  have  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  and  would  have 
had,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  selfish  interests  that  controlled 
it.  The  leading  clubs,  as  well  as  some  of  the  leading- 
churches  where  the  little  person  thought  that  he  had  gTOwn 
to  become  large  and  important  when  he  was  admitted  into 
them,  for  his  fine  service  rendered,  and  everything  else  that 
could  help  keep  things  as  they  were,  were  considered  the 
best,  yet  they  would  still  be  little — brains,  courage,  and 
honest  service  counted  for  nothing  if  they  would  not  bow 
to  the  will  of  those  who  were  looking  only  for  special  service. 
It  is  true,  the  gTeater  one's  ability  to  serve,  the  more  they 
were  praised  in  the  way  that  would  be  most  effective.  The 
man  who  was  bold  enough  to  contend  for  the  best  interests 


POLITICO  IN  TUFj  city  95 

of  the  masses  had  to  be  ii,ottcn  rid  of  and  would  be  treated 
with  as  little  consideration  as  a  vulture  would  a  pig's  maw. 

Before  the  next  election,  the  new  mayor,  a  Republican 
doctor,  wanted  to  run  for  sheriff,  and  as  the  place  had  been 
long  held  by  a  foxy  Republican,  there  began  much  active 
work  by  both  of  the  aspirants,  and  as  most  of  their  votes 
were  negroes,  it  was  who  could  win  over  on  his  side  the 
majority  of  their  leaders  and  the  mayor,  through  his  influence 
with  the  Republican  aldermen,  succeeded  in  adding  to  the 
police  force  about  half  a  dozen  more  negroes  than  was  on 
it  before  though  warned  four  or  five  times  in  public  meet- 
ings and  had  refused  to  vote  for  any  of  them  for  any  place 
a  white  man  could  better  fill,  but  the  mayor  kept  the  first 
that  he  had  appointed  out  mostly  in  the  negro  settlement, 
but  when  he  put  more  on  the  force,  and  let  some  of  them 
go  down  town  on  the  main  streets,  showing  their  ivory  and 
brass  buttons,  though  with  instructions,  it  was  claimed  by 
the  mayor,  not  to  arrest  any  white  man  but  to  go  for  a 
white  policeman  if  such  an  arrest  was  necessary,  and  seeing 
a  big,  black  burly  negro  in  his  uniform  beating  on  any  street 
in  the  city,  in  the  former  administration,  if  he  was  a  good 
negro,  voting  the  Democratic  ticket  each  year,  the  mayor 
may  have  thought  that  he  could  make  some  more  good  negroes 
by  getting  them  to  vote  for  him  in  place  of  his  rival,  the 
sheriff  at  that  time.  The  papers  in  the  city  hardly  let  a 
day  pass  that  they  did  not  take  the  side  of  the  negro,  claiming 
that  he  was  entitled  to  many  times  more  of  the  offices  than 
he  was  getting  and  better  serving  himself,  the  mayor  taking 
the  advice  of  the  controlled  press,  he  did  what  he  did  on 
his  own  volition,  for  no  one  seemed  to  approve  of  it. 

THE   TATTLER 

The  tongue  of  the  tattler  is  Satan's  hest  rattler, 
It  is  hung  on  a  pivot  and  its  scope  has  no  limit, 
Angels  it  would  as  gladly  destroy 
As  a  vulcan  would  a  pig's  maw. 


96  MEMORIES 


The  tattler's  work  is  never  doue, 
For  it  is  so  full  of  energy  already  spun, 
Its  work  once  begun  is  never  done, 
Until  every  thoughtful  person  from  it  is  on  the  run. 

So  beware  of  the  tattler's  tongue ! 
Let  him  learn  that  you  have  begun 
To  fear  him  worse  than  a  gun, 
Then  his  work  will  soon  be  doue. 

Induce  him  his  Bible  to  read, 
In  it  he  might  begin  to  see 
That  there  is  no  decent  place  he  can  hold 
As  long  as  he  lets  his  tattling  tongue  control. 


CHAPTER  X 


RIOTS 


About  this  time,  the  Ked  Shirt  campaign  had  begun  to  throw 
their  shirts  to  the  wind,  over  the  Eastern  part  of  the  State, 
and  more  crimes  were  conmiitted  by  the  impudent  negi'oes 
and  their  leaders  than  were  committed  by  the  Germans  upon 
the  French  and  Belgians,  until  the  facts  were  known  what 
big  liars  there  were  in  Europe,  but  the  facts  were  not  allowed 
to  be  known  in  l^orth.  Carolina.  The  multiplication  and  add- 
ing machines,  that  do  not  lie  unless  you  make  them,  were 
nowhere,  compared  to  the  way  every  little  insignificant  thing 
was  magnified  that  happened  in  the  city.  These  public  news- 
papers, eager  for  excitable  news,  would  print  some  frivolous 
thing,  comment  on  it,  twisting  what  was  written  to  please 
their  political  bosses,  some  paper  or  many  it  might  be  would 
take  up  the  outrages,  as  they  were  termed  and  after  adding 
to  it  to  suit  their  wits  and  prejudices,  would  send  it  broad- 
cast to  the  public.  It  was  often  so  changed  when  written 
by  exchange  papers  that  the  original  article  would  be  printed 
by  the  first  newspaper  starting  the  report,  and  credit  it  as 
coming  from  the  paper  probably  two  hundred  miles  away, 
as  what  had  happened  in  the  city  where  the  plotters  were 
controlling  the  minds  of  the  unthinking  people.  One  of  the 
editors  and  owners  of  a  paper  was  an  associated  press  reporter 
and  he  let  loose  all  that  a  credulous  people  would  believe. 
They  had  most  of  the  innocent  people,  women  and  children, 
with  the  feminine  men  believing  everything  that  was  printed, 
as  well  as  the  news  that  was  circulated  and  peddled  on  the 
streets. 

This  frenzied   excitement   went   on   until   every  one   but 

those  who  were  behind  the  plot,  with  a  few  exceptions,  were 

led  to  believe  that  the  negToes  were  going  to  rise  up  and 

kill  all  the  whites,  including  women  and  children.      In  the 

7  [97] 


98  MEMORIES 


meantime  Red  Shirt  clubs,  called  White  Supremacy  clubs, 
had  been  organized  in  every  ward  of  the  city  and  every  white 
man  in  the  city  must  sign.  The  call  for  the  first  mass 
meeting  was  signed  by  the  three  plotters  that  went  up  to 
the  city's  municipal  building  and  led  away  the  three  Demo- 
cratic aldermen  that  had  been  elected  and  went  to  qualify 
and  serve  the  city.  The  mass  meeting  was  well  advertised, 
and  the  next  morning  the  papers  were  filled  with  their 
patriotic  utterances,  advising  all  white  men  to  arm  and  be 
ready  to  defend  themselves.  They  failed  to  tell  them  that 
the  negroes  were  already  frightened  out  of  their  wits,  and 
were  affirming  that  they  had  not  done  anything  and  would 
not  think  of  such  things  as  they  were  accused  of,  and  had 
already  made  up  their  minds  that  they  were  not  going  any- 
where about  the  polls  on  election  day.  Nevertheless,  the  call 
was  made  for  another  mass  meeting  for  the  next  night,  with 
hand  bills  distributed  all  over  the  town,  saying  that  it  was 
expected  that  every  white  man  would  be  present  to  prepare 
to  protect  his  family.  With  big  headlines  in  all  the  papers, 
every  white  man  was  requested  to  be  present  and  it  was  stated 
that  there  would  be  a  meeting  each  night  until  all  had  joined 
and  thoroughly  organized.  When  the  hour  for  the  meeting- 
arrived,  they  were  there  and  the  three  original  plotters  had 
several  fiery  orators  to  help  inject  their  fire  upon  the  audi- 
ence. It  was  claimed  that  the  inward  fire  was  free  on 
most  any  corner,  as  these  were  the  times  before  prohibition, 
and  the  dispensers  of  the  liquor  are  like  special  interests, 
they  can  always  be  expected  on  the  winning  side. 

These  meetings  went  on  nightly  in  the  main  building,  and 
daily  on  the  street  corners,  as  nothing  else  was  doing,  and 
were  apt  to  be  near  some  bar,  whose  owner  was  one  of  the 
leading  boys ;  when  they  had  the  town  bubbling  over  with 
excitement,  they  had  put  out  the  word  that  the  negroes  had 
planned  to  burn  the  town,  women  and  children  included, 
and  those  who  had  refused  to  attach  their  names  to  the 
pledge  that  was  drawn  uj)  by  the  plotters,  were  waited  u])on 


RIOTS  99 

and  told  they  had  to  join.  Many  of  the  good  people  were 
marched  from  their  homes,  some  by  committees  and  taken 
to  headqnarters,  and  told  to  sign.  Those  that  did  not  were 
notified  that  they  must  leave  the  city.  It  was  advised  that 
the  big  six  of  the  Kepublican  leaders  be  dealt  with,  if  neces- 
sary, as  there  were  plenty  of  ropes  in  the  city. 

The  matter  looked  serious,  and  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  audit  and  finance  was  asked  to  go  and  see  the 
other  two  of  his  committee,  who  were  Democrats,  and 
directors  in  their  bank,  and  asked  them  to  approve  of  the 
naming  of  one  hundred  men  of  the  town  to  act  as  policemen 
in  order  that  the  city  might  be  properly  guarded  on  account 
of  such  bitter  feeling  against  the  administration,  and  as  they 
had  the  money  in  the  city's  treasury  to  spare,  it  was  their 
duty  to  do  so,  and  as  the  mayor  had  withdrawn  his  down 
town  negro  policemen,  and  was  one  of  the  big  six,  who  had 
heard  of  the  rope  so  repeatedly,  he  was  like  Brer  Eabbit,  he 
was  laying  low.  The  two  Democrats  on  the  board  of  audit 
and  finance,  especially  the  bank  officer,  said  that  they  did 
not  have  any  money  to  waste,  he  having  allied  himself  with 
the  boys,  knowing  it  would  have  interfered  with  already 
arranged  plans  to  do  otherwise. 

About  this  time,  Bennie  having  refused  to  be  a  party  to 
what  was  going  on,  he  told  those  who  came  to  wait  on  him  and 
have  him  sign,  up  that  no  man  in  the  city  would  shoulder 
his  gTin  quicker  than  he  would,  if  he  saw  that  the  negroes 
intended  to  rise  against  the  white  people,  and  told  them 
that  the  negroes  were  so  badly  frightened  already  that  they 
were  begging  the  white  people  to  please  protect  them  from 
the  drunken  Red  Shirts  that  were  terrifying  everybody  they 
could  and  affirming  also  that  they  would  not  attempt  to  vote, 
but  that  had  no  effect  on  those  who  were  doing  the  leading. 
Anonymous  letters  began  to  come  to  Bennie  in  nearly  every 
mail,  with  coffins,  skulls,  etc.,  drawn  on  them,  advising  him 
to  leave  at  once  or  join  the  Red  Shirt  club.  A  few  real  nice 
letters  came  to  him  praising  him  for  his  noble  work  and  worth 


100  MEMORIES 


he  had  been  to  all  the  leading  enterprises,  but  for  the  sake 
of  his  family,  wife  and  young-  children  alone  he  ought  to 
join,  as  his  character  and  business  would  be  ruined  if  he  did 
not  join. 

This  went  on  for  some  weeks  and  finally  a  committee  of 
three  of  the  leaders,  one  being  an  elder  in  a  prominent  church 
of  the  city,  the  other  two  being  churchmen  and  prominent 
in  the  old  administration,  went  into  his  office,  saying  that 
they  were  sent  by  the  club  to  get  him  to  come  and  join  them, 
that  about  all  the  rest  had  done  so,  and  they  knew  there  was 
no  better  man  in  the  town  than  he  was,  and  they  were  author- 
ized to  say  to  him  that  if  he  would  come  and  join  the  club, 
he  could  have  the  mayor's  place  or  be  State  Senator  or 
anything  else  that  he  might  want.  They  were  told  that  he 
wanted  no  office  of  any  kind,  as  he  had  taken  the  place  of 
alderman  with  no  pay  only  as  a  matter  of  duty,  in  trying 
to  protect  the  city's  interest,  and  while  he  had  seen  that  his 
service  was  not  appreciated  by  those  he  was  serving,  yet 
their  interest  had  been  well  taken  care  of,  and  many  reforms 
had  been  attempted,  some  of  which  were  defeated  by  the 
Democrats  who  were  interested  in  their  personal  affairs  more 
than  they  were  in  those  of  the  people.  He  further  said 
that  he  was  not  for  sale,  and  there  were  neither  offices  nor 
money  enough  to  keep  him  from  doing  his  duty  as  he  saw 
it.  They  soon  left,  with  oaths  and  threats  of  what  would 
happen  to  him  for  his  refusal  to  join. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  they  came  again,  walk- 
ing into  his  place  of  business  and  stating  that  they  were  sent 
back  by  the  committee  to  get  his  ultimatum,  and  to  notify 
him  that  he  would  either  have  to  join  their  Red  Shirt  organi- 
zation or  leave  the  city,  or  his  life  would  be  in  his  own 
hands;  besides,  there  was  an  arrangement  already  to  ruin  his 
business  (which  had  taken  years  to  build  up  and  which  was 
paying  him  ten  to  twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year  or  more 
net)  if  he  did  not  join.  In  the  meantime  they  were  acting  as 
drunken  hoodlums,  some  cursing  and  swearina".     When  he 


7»707'.s'  101 

could  not  stand  their  epithets  any  longer,  he  walked  from 
behind  his  desk  to  an  open  space  in  his  store,  and  told  them 
that  he  could  whip  all  three  of  them,  if  they  would  come 
on,  that  they  were  nothing  more  than  an  intimidating  mob, 
and  they  could  go  and  tell  their  Eed  Shirt  mob  that  they 
could  send  their  Ked  Shirt,  drunken  butchers  to  kill  him 
any  time,  as  that  is  what  they  intimated,  but  to  say  to  them 
that  he  had  not  done  anything  to  leave  the  town  for,  only 
tried  to  protect  its  interest,  and  when  they  sent  their  mob 
to  run  him  out  of  to\vu  or  butcher  him,  to  tell  them  that  a 
dozen  or  twenty-five  would  go  with  him  to  another  world, 
and  that  if  he  did  nothing  else  his  life  would  not  have  been 
in  vain. 

They  left,  going  up  the  street  to  where  a  large  crowd  had 
gathered  near  a  place  where  there  was  plenty  to  drink,  as  well 
as  to  eat,  Wlien  the  three  wild,  courageous  committee 
w^alked  up,  the  first  question  asked  was:  "What  did  you  do 

with  ?"     The  answer  was:  "I^ot  a  d thing." 

One  of  the  most  patriotic  of  the  group,  who  had  been  seek- 
ing for  an  office  these  many  years  to  get  something  to  support 
him  without  work  to  lighten  the  burden  of  his  wife,  and 
who  was  declared  later  by  the  mob  to  be  mayor,  remarked 
that  a  shot  g-un  could  bring  him  down ;  but  his  life  ended  in 
sadness. 

'Next  morning,  by  the  time  Bennie  got  to  his  store  to  open 
it,  as  they  had  coerced  about  all  his  help  to  leave  him,  he 
saw  standing  at  his  door  a  man  who  had  been  his  friend, 
but  who  was  like  all  the  other  friends  who  had  not  been 
embittered  against  him — afraid  to  be  seen  talking  with  him, 
and  when  he  was  met  by  them  on  the  street,  rather  than  be 
seen  speaking,  they  would  go  in  another  direction  for  fear 
that  they  would  be  shot  down  and  killed,  so  they  afterwards 
told  him.  When  the  store  door  was  opened,  his  friend  asked 
to  go  back  into  the  back  of  the  store,  so  no  one  would  see 
him,  and  this  friend  being  under  the  greatest  excitement, 
commenced  to  beg  him  to  leave  the  citv,  as  he  was  satisfied 


102  MEMORIES 


that  he  would  be  killed,  that  the  leaders  were  doing  every- 
thing in  their  power,  he  said,  to  have  him  put  out  of  the 
way  in  some  way.  He  was  told  that  his  hands  and  con- 
science were  clean,  and  his  wife  and  little  family  seemed 
to  be  the  only  friends  who  were  willing  to  stand  and  die 
with  him,  but  he  put  his  trust  in  his  God  who  had  always 
been  his  helper  in  time  of  need,  and  had  asked  on  his  knees, 
during  these  trials  that  he  was  going  through,  that  if  it 
was  the  right  thing  for  him  to  do,  to  put  it  into  his  heart 
and  mind  to  join  with  them,  but  further  asked  to  keep  his 
hands  and  influence  from  being  the  cause  of  shedding  inno- 
cent blood  and  to  lead  him  to  do  the  right  thing  in  His 
sight,  and  that  there  would  be  no  stain  left  upon  him  or  his 
family.  After  becoming  thoroughly  convinced  that  there 
would  be  innocent  people  killed,  if  they  were  negroes,  (they, 
too,  were  of  God's  creatures  the  same  as  all  other  races),  he 
then  became  thoroughly  resigned  to  be  killed,  but  felt  it  his 
duty  to  protect  himself  as  best  he  could,  and  had  no  more 
dread  of  the  mob  than  if  they  never  had  been  in  existence. 

In  the  meantime,  he  had  one  hundred  shells  loaded  with 
buck  shot,  and  had  bought  another  pistol,  and  sent  for  his 
extra  gun  on  the  farm.  The  news  no  doubt  was  out  about 
his  shells  being  loaded,  as  he  had  them  loaded  at  one  of  the 
hardware  stores,  as  these  were  about  the  only  busy  people  in 
the  city,  except  the  fire  water  distributors. 

The  following  night,  after  his  excited  friend  had  begged 
him  to  leave  before  he  was  killed,  there  was  another  big 
rally  at  headquarters,  where  they  had  some  of  the  preachers 
of  the  city,  all  called  on  to  speak.  One  pompous,  beaver- 
diked  specimen  of  their  number  got  up  and  made  one  of  the 
bitterest  talks,  urging  the  boys  on.  He  was  one  of  their  first 
recruits,  and  his  name  always  had  big  headlines  in  the  papers. 
He  stated  that  he  had  been  in  one  riot  South,  before  he  came 
here,  and  was  itching  to  get  in  another  one,  as  they  killed 
nine,  and  he  was  ready  at  any  time.  He  finished  with 
great   cheers,  the   paper   said.      The   next    speaker   to   arise 


RIOTS  ina 

was  a  brother  of  one  of  the  committeemen  that  waited  on 
Bennie  twice  the  day  before ;  when  he  refused  to  obey  orders, 
the  speaker  said,  the  river  was  near  his  place,  and  he  slionld 
be  dealt  with. 

It  was  said  that  all  of  the  s])eech  making  was  received 
with  great  ovation,  except  when  the  business  man  insinuated 
that  Eennie's  place  was  near  the  river  and  should  be  dealt 
with.  Then  one  could  have  heard  a  pin  drop  on  the  floor, 
but  no  one  volunteered  to  make  the  move.  The  next  speaker 
was  a  leading  talker  in  his  church,  but  became  almost  a 
ward  before  he  died.  When  he  arose,  after  the  fiery  speech 
in  which  the  river  was  said  to  be  so  close,  the  fiery  old  church 
talker  started  by  introducing  an  old  horse  pistol,  and  telling 
his  enthusiastic  hearers  that  it  was  his  liver  regulator,  and 
was  the  medicine  to  use. 

The  next  night  when  Bemiie  went  home,  his  two  little 
daughters,  one  seven  and  the  other  nine  years  old,  began  to 
cr}'  and  beg  their  father  not  to  send  them  to  school  any  more, 
that  those  pale  faced  children,  who  no  doubt  had  eaten  rations 
contributed  by  Bennie  by  the  dray  loads  to  the  unemployed 
months  before,  who  claimed  that  they  were  suffering,  were 
always  saying  to  them  that  they  ought  not  be  allowed  to 
come  to  school  there,  but  ought  to  go  to  the  negTO  school, 
and  his  wife  was  always  in  tears  when  he  left  the  home, 
expecting  that  she  would  not  see  him  alive  again.  After 
supper  was  over,  she  began  crying,  telling  that  her  mother 
was  worried  almost  to  death,  and  had  come  in  the  back  way 
that  evening  to  persuade  her  to  get  him  to  go  out  of  the 
to\\Ti,  that  their  friends  were  awfully  worried,  and  some  of 
them  were  coming  in  to  see  her  all  the  time,  to  get  her  son- 
in-law  to  leave,  at  least  until  after  the  election.  When  she 
finished  telling  the  sad  news,  which  was  the  only  kind  they 
had  for  months,  she  said :  "If  you  are  going  to  stay  here, 
I  will  load  the  gims  as  fast  as  you  can  shoot  them."  Her 
experience  on  the  farm,  shooting  snakes,  targets,  etc.,  had 
taught  her  how  to  handle  a  gun.     The  little  eleven  year  old 


104  MEMORIES 


boj,  who  was  sitting  at  the  table  with  his  hands  holding 
his  head,  looked  up  and  said :  "Papa,  my  little  gun  that  you 
bought  me  will  kill  anything,  if  you  are  not  too  far  from  it, 
and  if  the  mob  comes  here  to  take  you  out  and  kill  you 
at  night,  like  they  say  they  are  going  to  do,  I'm  going  to 
shoot  as  long  as  you  do." 

A  few  nights  afterwards,  about  midnight,  there  could  be 
heard  coming  up  the  brick  sidewalk,  apparently  trying  to 
walk  lightly,  quite  a  number  of  persons.  The  wife  whispered 
that  the  sidewalks  were  full.  They  were  both  up  by  the  time 
the  mob  reached  the  iron  gate,  which  was  kept  shut.  As 
soon  as  they  were  heard  on  the  pavement  that  led  from  the 
gate  to  the  house,  Bennie  and  his  wife,  both  with  guns  in 
their  hands,  were  going  dowoi  the  stairway  to  give  them  the 
long-looked-for  reception.  When  they  were  about  half  way 
down,  the  butt  of  his  gun  struck  one  of  the  baluster  supports 
with  such  force  that  it  could  be  heard  all  over  the  house, 
as  well  as  out  in  the  yard.  Before  he  could  get  to  the  door, 
which  had  glass  panes  on  both  sides  which  he  expected  to 
shoot  through,  the  mob  broke  in  a  run,  some  jumping  over 
the  sharp  iron  pailings,  and  were  running  down  the  street 
like  a  drove  of  wild  mules,  in  every  direction.  Some  of 
them  told  about  it  later  on,  and  said  they  knew  what  they 
would  have  gotten  had  they  not  run,  but  they  said  that  was 
the  last  crowd  that  could  be  persuaded  to  wait  on  him  day  or 
night. 

A  few  days  previously  there  had  appeared  in  one  of  the 
morning  papers  the  most  scurrilous  and  damnable  lie  that 
was  ever  hatched  up  against  any  respectable  person,  expecting 
it  to  kill  any  influence  that  Bennie  had  in  the  State,  and 
among  his  trade  elsewhere,  claiming  that  he  was  advocating 
social  equality  between  the  whites  and  the  negroes,  which 
meant  that  he  wanted  white  women  to  marry  negro  men.  The 
State  was  afire  over  the  Simmons  Red  Shirt  issue  already, 
and  when  a  rival  competitor's  salesman  would  see  any  goods 
with  his  name  printed  on  them  the  first  thing  the  salesman 


RIOTS  lOy 

would  say  to  the  storekeeper  would  be :  "Do  you  buy  your 
goods  from  a  man  who  is  preaching  social  equality,  advocat- 
ing your  daughters  marrying  negroes  ?"  ''Well,  he  doesn't, 
does  he?"  "Yes."  "Well,  I  will  never  trade  another  dollar 
with  him  again."  This  went  all  over  the  country,  until  all 
that  was  possible  to  be  poisoned  was  done  so. 

The  article  was  published  in  the  leading  daily,  with  an 
anon>Tnous  name  as  authority,  but  it  had  created  a  townful 
of  talk.  x\ll  the  people  that  had  any  sense  of  honor,  knew 
it  was  false,  but  some  who  knew  him  better  pretended  to 
believe  it  and  would  say :  "Well,  his  influence  is  dead  now ; 
he  can  say  what  he  pleases,  and  no  one  will  believe  him, 
and  none  of  the  papers  will  publish  an3i;hing  that  he  says 
or  writes,  he  is  done  for.  l^o  doubt  he  is  sorry  now  that 
he  did  not  join  our  club,  which  would  have  saved  him  and 
his  family  all  the  humiliation  that  has  befallen  them." 

The  editor  refused  at  first  to  give  the  name  of  the  author, 
saying:  "You  know  that  it  is  politics,"  and  told  him  not 
to  notice  it.  Wlien  pressed  for  an  answer,  his  reply  was 
that  the  man  was  a  friend  of  Bennie's  and  he  had  promised 
not  to  tell  who  he  was.  Bennie  then  told  the  editor  that 
he  would  hold  him  personally  responsible,  that  he  knew  that 
he  could  get  no  redress  by  going  to  law,  but  whoever  put 
the  article  in  the  paper  would  be  punished  if  it  was  the 
last  act  of  his  life,  and  the  man  that  would  print  such  an 
outrage  was  no  better  than  the  scoundrel  that  had  it  printed, 
and  then  and  there  he  demanded  to  know  its  author.  When 
he  realized  what  was  up,  he  told  him,  but  begged  him  not 
to  notice  it  as  everybody  knew  that  there  was  no  truth  in 
the  article.  When  he  was  told  who  gave  the  editor  the 
article,  Bemiie  was  surprised  to  learn  that  it  was  his  envious 
neighbor,  after  he  had  been  his  only  friend  on  the  square, 
and  had  tried  to  act  the  peacemaker  for  ten  years,  taking 
more  and  having  his  family  do  the  same,  than  he  should 
have  done,  but  did  it  for  peace. 


106  MEMORIES 


There  was  not  much  sleep  that  night,  as  all  he  could 
do  was  to  do  like  some  of  the  neighbors  had  threatened  to 
do,  going  to  his  home  if  it  was  night,  and  settle  with  him. 
The  first  thing  next  morning  was  to  go  out  about  six  o'clock 
to  his  place  of  business,  where  he  had  discharged  all  of  his 
former  hands,  which  were  negroes  and  had  given  their  places 
to  the  Red  Shirt  brigade,  who  were  doing  the  political  trick 
so  well  for  them.     "Wlien  he  got  to  his  place  of  business, 

he  went  in  and  called  for  Mr.  on  the  inside  of  his 

office.  No  sooner  than  the  anonymous  letter  writer  saw 
who  it  was,  he  jumped  up  from  his  desk,  so  glad  to  see  him 
and  asked  him  to  sit  down  as  he  wanted  to  talk  with  him. 
He  then  said,  "I  am  so  glad  that  you  came  out ;  let  me  tell 
you  about  that  article.  I  told  an  attorney  something  but 
not  anything  like  what  he  wrote."  Bennie  asked  that  they 
go  on  the  outside,  where  they  could  be  alone.  When  they 
had  gotten  a  few  yards  from  the  office,  the  first  word  that 
was  spoken  was :  ''What  kind  of  an  outrageous  lie  w^as  that 
you  had  published  ?"  With  that  the  lick  went  with  the 
question,  and  he  commenced  to  beg,  saying  that  he  did  not 
do  it,  but  the  attorney  who  was  one  of  the  three  to  make  the 
first  call  for  the  mass  meeting,  and  one  that  helped  lead 
the  three  aldermen  away  to  keep  them  from  qualifying. 
But  the  licks  were  being  driven  wath  all  the  power  that 
an  outraged  person  could  command,  whose  wrought  feel- 
ings gave  renewed  strength.  When  the  author  found  that  his 
resistance  amounted  to  nothing,  he  began  at  the  top  of  his 

voice  to  holler  "Murder,  come,  come,  for  G sake,  come!" 

The  first  one  to  see  and  to  run  to  his  assistance  was  a  dray- 
man weighing  two  hundred  pounds  or  more.  When  he  came 
sailing  up,  the  anonymous  writer  missed  that  lick,  which 
went  to  the  big  drayman,  taking  him  on  the  side  of  his 
face  and  ear,  who  was  then  told  that  if  he  moved  another 
inch  toward  him,  he  would  shoot  him  full  of  holes.  The 
job  went  on,  only  instead  of  one  hollering  for  help,  there 
were  two.     The  drayman  thought  that  his  boss  would  be 


RIOTfi  107 

killed,  so  lie  began  jumping  up  and  down,  liolUn-ing  at  the 
top  of  his  voice,  wliicli  caused  the  other  thirty-odd  Red 
Shirters  to  hear,  as  the  noise  of  the  mill  had  kept  them  from 
hearing  the  calls  and  cries  of  murder.  Each  one  of  the 
rescuers  came  with  a  board,  slab,  or  scantling  in  their  hands, 
so  heavy  it  was  all  they  could  do  to  raise  them,  but  the  licks 
went  on  until  the  recruits  came  within  striking  distance, 
when  they  were  told  to  halt,  which  they  all  did  to  a  man. 
Bennie  with  his  pistol  and  plenty  of  balls  kept  his  hands  on 
them  and  told  them  that  the  first  one  that  attempted  to  come 
a  step  nearer,  he  would  blow  their  brains  out.  Wlien  they 
had  come  to  a  stand,  he  then  walked  sideways  back  to  the 
gate ;  all  the  time  the  trouble-maker  was  begging  the  new 
army  to  kill  him,  kill  him,  but  they  only  kept  their  timbers 
up  in  the  air.  On  reaching  the  gate  and  street,  he  stopped 
to  tell  his  supposed  neighbor  how  mean  and  little  he  was, 
and  what  he  and  his  family  had  taken  in  order  to  have  peace, 
and  that  he  had  been  his  only  friend  on  the  square.  The 
trouble-maker  had  ventured  up  and  was  leaning  on  the  gate 
post;  Bennie  decided  that  he  would  give  him  one  more 
punch,  but  he  jumped  back  so  far  that  the  lick  merely  glazed 
him.  When  he  jumped  back,  all  of  his  protectors  jumped 
back  with  him,  some  of  their  fighting  arms  so  heavy  the 
weight  of  them  liked  to  have  carried  some  of  them  on  their 
backs. 

About  this  time  a  young  man  came  sailing  by  in  his  buggy. 
Bennie  asked  if  he  could  ride  down  to\\m  with  him ;  he  was 
told  to  get  up,  and  in  twenty  minutes,  he  was  at  the  magis- 
trate's office,  submitted  his  case,  and  paid  the  cost  and  got 
a  receipt.  About  four  o'clock,  p.  m.,  an  officer  came  with  a 
warrant,  but  when  he  was  shown  that  the  case  was  submitted, 
he  said  that  he  was  too  late. 

When  the  news  became  circulated  over  the  city  of  what 
had  happened,  those  who  knew  Bennie  said  that  they  did 
not  blame  him,  and  instead  of  gaining  popularity,  the  letter 
writer  finally  lost  about  all  the  little  he  had.     His  partner  in 


108  MEMORIES 


the  business  was  one  of  the  Big  Six  that  caused  the  rope  to  be 
mentioned,  and  having  had  one  of  the  large  businesses  of 
the  city,  he  was  favored  by  giving  him  thirty  days  to  settle 
everything  and  go  back  North.  Having  the  greater  part  of 
the  money  in  the  business,  and  being  no  fool,  to  the  surprise 
of  his  partner  (who  joined  so  readily  with  the  plotters),  he 
called  about  three  hundred  of  his  friends  and  active  workers 
of  the  Red  Shirts  to  his  house  one  night  for  a  conference. 
To  their  surprise,  they  found  that  the  table  was  loaded  dowm 
with  all  that  one's  appetite  could  call  for;  besides,  the  side- 
board was  filled  with  anji;hing  the  thirsty  could  think  of, 
with  help  to  serve  each  guest  his  particular  fancy.  After 
the  glasses  had  been  filled  two  or  three  times  and  all  made 
happy,  he  told  his  giiests  that  he  had  something  still  to  sur- 
prise them  with,  that  he  had  decided  to  resign  as  county 
commissioner  and  its  chairman  and  join  the  Democratic 
party,  and  it  was  said  that  his  partner  was  not  there  either. 
Cheer  after  cheer  went  up,  as  the  glasses  were  refilled,  w^iich 
continued  until  the  early  hours  of  the  morning,  and  all  of 
a  sudden  he  became  a  big  man  of  the  party;  this  all  in  one 
night,  and  the  papers  with  their  great  headlines  rejoiced 
and  were  exceedingly  glad.  The  order  of  this  dismissal  and 
request  to  leave  the  city  was  revoked,  but  the  trouble  maker 
had  to  take  his  bed  the  day  that  his  guests  went  to  his  place 
to  see  him  and  was  in  the  doctor's  care  for  two  weeks.  The 
Doctor,  who  was  Bennie's  also,  confided  in  him  that  his  old 
neighbor  was  in  such  bad  shape  that  he  had  to  go  to  bed 
and  remain  for  two  weeks,  then  to  the  mountains  for  over 
two  months.  When  he  returned  the  election  was  all  over, 
and  he  missed  his  vote  after  so  strenuously  turning  the  ras- 
cals out,  but  "hubby"  is  not  always  to  blame  for  everything 
if  he  is  not  capable  of  thinking  for  himself.  The  election 
came  and  the  State  went  Democratic,  but  they  could  not 
wait  for  the  city  election,  and  on  the  third  morning  after 
the  State  election,  when  it  was  as  quiet  as  a  Sunday  morn- 
ing everyone  thinking  that  it  was  the  quietest  election  that 


RIOTS!  109 

had  ever  been  held  in  the  old  town,  as  it  was  noted  far  and 
near  as  a  town  wliere  factional  fights  in  their  own  party 
were  waged  with  all  the  feeling  and  bitterness  that  could  be 
thought  of,  and  was  at  its  height  and  glory  during  the 
campaigi],  but  there  had  been  only  a  one  sided  campaign 
during  the  three  months  having  everything  in  their  own 
hands,  negroes  frightened  into  a  pitiful  condition,  asking 
their  white  friends  not  to  let  them  be  hurt,  and  that  they 
were  not  going  to  the  ballot  box.  The  politicians,  feeling 
so  elated  over  the  great  victory  of  the  State,  the  Red  Shirt 
campaign  had  won,  they  who  were  hungTy  and  thirsty  after 
office,  could  not  wait  several  months  for  the  city  election, 
and  the  third  morning  after  the  election,  some  of  the  leaders 
decided  to  run  out  of  the  city  or  kill  the  yellow  rascal  who 
had  been  running  a  little  newspaper  that  printed  an  article 
that  was  outrageous  and  false  concerning  white  women. 

In  the  meantime  all  the  partisan  press  of  the  State  made 
great  capital  out  of  it  against  the  Populists  and  Republicans, 
and  caused  thousands  of  them  to  believe  that  it  was  time  for 
a  change.  But  when  they  went  down  to  deal  with  the  traitor, 
to  kill  him  if  necessary,  the  crowd  being  armed  with  guns, 
being  several  hundred  of  them,  they  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
that  it  was  printed  in  the  leading  paper  of  the  city,  eleven 
days  before,  that  this  yellow  negro  editor  was  then  in  Asbury 
Park,  ^N".  J.,  having  fled  from  town  for  fear  of  being  injured 
or  killed;  but  as  the  leaders  must  have  forgotten  it,  and  to 
make  good  all  the  terrible  mismanagement  of  the  city  admin- 
istration, in  having  gotten  all  the  Democrats,  women  and 
children  to  believe  all  that  was  printed  and  said  was  true, 
and  then  some  more,  they  ran  no  risks,  as  far  as  sentiment 
was  concerned,  as  well  as  no  danger  in  killing  this  little  yel- 
low traitor.  After  getting  where  he  lived,  and  finding  no 
one  there,  and  that  there  had  been  no  one  there  for  over  ten 
days,  they  set  fire  to  the  building,  burning  it  and  the  print- 
ing press  up  together;  but  the  excitement  was  on,  and  back 
uptown  they  came,  with  excitement  gTowing  all  the  while. 


110  MEMORIES 


with  more  joining  in  with  them,  with  guns,  it  being  their 
intention  of  protecting  the  town ;  and  having  started  out  to 
have  some  fun,  thej  were  like  Katy  Walker  was,  when  want- 
ing to  wait  at  the  wedding  of  a  cousin,  and  being  persuaded 
not  to  do  so,  as  everything  was  already  arranged,  her  reply 
was  that  she  had  come  there  prepared  to  wait  and  she  be  d — 
to  h —  if  she  wasn't  going  to  wait. 

They  had  their  fun,  but  it  must  be  too  sad  for  those  who 
are  still  living  now  to  make  any  pretensions  to  believe  in  the 
only  true  and  living  God  to  be  haunted  by  the  innocent 
negroes  that  were  helpless  and  begging  for  mercy,  when  the 
influence  of  the  better  people  seemd  to  have  been  dead  to 
usefulness  during  these  momentous  times,  where  prejudices 
were  substituted  for  reason  and  justice. 

Scores  and  scores  of  good  men  thoughtlessly  were  tempted 
by  the  politician  that  afterwards  told  Bennie  they  wished 
many  times  since  that  they  had  the  courage  he  did;  if  so, 
they  would  have  had  no  part  in  it  and  would  have  no  stain 
on  their  hands  or  minds. 

When  the  high-hat  preacher,  with  the  spike-tailed  coat  and 
with  gun  on  his  shoulder,  went  out  hunting  blackbirds,  it 
was  not  much  of  a  surprise  to  see  others  not  so  prominent  in 
church  affairs  acting  as  he  did.  To  the  credit  of  those 
churches  whose  preachers  so  far  forgot  their  sacred  duty  to 
their  God  that  they  professed  to  serve,  they  were  soon  hunt- 
ing for  another  pulpit,  and  not  one  of  them  remained  but  a 
few  months  after  disgracing  their  calling.  But  God  works 
in  a  mysterious  way.  One  who  claims  to  have  kept  an 
account  of  the  unnatural  deaths  of  some  of  those  who  were 
the  most  active  and  unmerciful,  claimed  that  there  were 
eighty  of  them  who  went  to  an  untimely  death  before  the 
JudgTiient  bar  in  less  than  two  years,  and  many  since  then 
have  gone  to  the  Judgment  seat. 

There  were  as  good  people  in  the  city  as  could  be  found 
anywhere,  but  many  of  them  lent  their  influence  to  the  plot- 
ters, never  thinking,  no  doubt,  that  it  would  terminate  as  it 


RIOTS  111 

did.  But  whom  the  gods  would  destroy,  they  first  deceive. 
Wlieu  people  get  wrought  up  over  anything,  whether  true  or 
false,  they  become  like  frightened  wild  horses  and  cattle — 
they  will  trample  over  each  other  in  frenzy.  It  is  like  striking 
a  match  to  an  old  field  of  broomstraw  on  a  windy  day — once 
it  is  started,  it  is  soon  out  of  control ;  and  many  must  have 
seen  it  that  way  before  they  were  called  to  see  about  it.  i\.s 
many  species  of  trees  are  lifeless  after  the  fury  of  the  fire 
has  swept  through  them,  so  many  consciences  are  endangered 
by  the  burning  fire  of  hate,  which  is  here  penned  as  a  warn- 
ing for  those  who  let  it  get  control  of  them. 

HATE 

Hate  is  a  dangerous  word, 

It  dwarfs  the  mind  and  shrivels  the  soul, 

Its  thoughts  are  fearful  to  behold ; 

If  you  indulge  in  it  you  will  lose  your  soul. 

It  is  Satan's  most  cunning  sword : 
With  it  he  reaches  the  world  over. 
And  every  man  he  can  induce  to  accept, 
He  then  has  added  another  to  his  set. 

Beware,  then,  of  that  fearful  word, 

For  it  is  one  that  is  hard  to  curb. 

It  destroys  the  mind,  impoverishes  the  soul. 

And  encourages  Satan  to  continue  on  the  go. 

Its  business  with  others  is  to  hinder 
Any  good  that  might  be  accomplished ; 
It  then  is  in  its  glory, 
But  its  ending  is  always  a  sad  story. 

See  the  man  whose  mind  it  dwarfs : 

For  the  good  of  the  world  he  is  lost. 

The  seed  he  has  sown 

Will  deprive  him  of  the  most  humble  throne. 


CHAPTEK  XI 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF   CUSTOMS 


There  is  always  a  way  to  manage  by  law,  and  correct  the 
evils,  when  it  is  rightly  gone  after ;  but  the  better  people  stand 
back  when  they  ought  to  come  to  the  front,  as  it  is  as  much 
their  duty  in  serving  the  Lord  as  in  their  various  churches, 
for  the  politicians  are  often  churchmen  and  often  take  advan- 
tage of  being  a  church  member ;  that  being  true,  he  ought  to 
be  dealt  with  in  his  political  crookedness  as  quickly  as  if  he 
stole  his  neighbor's  horse. 

There  were  many  who  were  prosperous  before,  that  became 
dependents  before  they  died;  but  God  lets  many  prosper 
while  they  remain  here,  but  they  have  to  go  before  Him  in 
rags  and  poverty,  unless  they  have  made  amends  for  the 
things  that  He  has  forbidden  them  against. 

When  they  came  back  from  running  out  or  killing  the 
negro  that  said  such  mean  things  in  the  paper,  and  who  was 
running  the  paper  without  negro  subscribers  or  white  Eepub- 
licans,  they  went  to  shooting,  and  declared  the  city  under 
martial  law,  ^nd  proceeded  to  the  city's  building  and  elected 
the  brave  leader,  who  led  the  boys  to  go  and  kill  the  negi-o 
editor,  as  mayor,  to  the  gTeat  surprise,  it  was  said,  of  the  old 
ex-fox  mayor,  who  was  one  of  the  three  to  call  the  first  public 
meeting  to  turn  the  rascals  out.  They  also  appointed  men 
for  all  the  city  offices,  except  one  alderman,  whose  resigna- 
tion was  not  sent  in  until  about  ten  days  later,  when  he  saw 
that  they  wanted  it  all.  They  only  appointed  one  of  the 
three  original  leaders  to  an  office,  he  being  appointed  city 
attorney,  which  was  no  doubt  his  apple  from  the  beginning. 
At  the  first  election,  a  few  months  afterwards,  he  was  de- 
feated, but  it  did  not  discourage  him,  for  he  ran  regularly 
for  about  ten  or  twelve  years  in  the  primaries  and  conven- 
tions in  his  party.  Having  never  gotten  any  nearer  than 
[112] 


TIJK  COLLECTOR  OF  CIJ^TOMB  11.'! 


waiitiiii;'  soinclhing  during'  these  long  years,  lie  afterwards 
began  running  in  the  Republican  party  for  places  the  old 
party  bosses  knew  they  could  not  get,  else  they  would  have 
taken  it  themselves.  To  hold  the  voters  together,  they  would 
flatter  him  by  letting  him  run,  and  when  he  had  about  run 
out,  he  had  to  depend  upon  the  astute  popularity  of  those 
who  had  some  sympathy  for  a  man  who  seemed  to  have  the 
heavy  hand  of  misfortune  against  him,  but  his  partners  in 
the  iirst  call,  their  lives  ended  too  sad  to  dwell  upon. 

W\[iGu  the  wares  flashed  the  news  all  over  the  country  that 
the  negroes  were  killing  white  people  in  a  regular  race  war, 
calls  came  for  the  Governor  to  send  help  to  quell  the  riot  and 
help  the  light  infantry,  who  were  prepared  to  settle  matters, 
and  could  have  done  so,  if  desired,  in  short  order.  When  the 
companies  arrived  on  the  field,  they  claimed  that  they  saw 
no  negroes  to  shoot,  and  those  that  they  ran  across  were  so 
frightened  that  they  were  to  be  pitied.  The  reporters  who 
represented  the  big  New  York  and  other  dailies  were  care- 
fully looked  after  on  their  arrival  at  the  depot.  Bennie  had 
told  many  of  those  who  pretended  to  be  so  frightened  that  if 
it  became  necessary,  to  give  him  one  hundred  men  and  he 
would  put  any  negroes  to  flight  that  pretended  to  do  any  mis- 
chief. He  was  told  months  afterwards  by  one  of  his  old 
friends,  who  knew  what  Bennie  said  was  true,  but  it  was 
politics  he  said  they  were  playing,  he  claimed,  to  carry  the 
election. 

As  the  telegTaph  company  was  interested,  as  their  charges 
had  been  cut  forty  per  cent,  as  well  as  the  railroad  and  tele- 
phone charges,  and  every  man  from  them  could  be  seen  on 
the  job,  and  the  club  was  the  most  secluded  place  to  tell  the 
reporters  of  all  the  heroic  deeds,  many  of  them  remained  for 
several  days,  not  seen  only  by  those  who  had  them  in  charge, 
and  it  was  said  that  there  was  no  need  of  water  at  the  club, 
except  for  bathing  purposes.  In  consequence,  there  were  lots 
of  ghost  stories,  hobgoblins,  and  anything  else  necessary  to 
make  up  a  newsy  story  that  was  flashed  all  over  the  country. 


114  MEMORIES 


About  this  time  Tom  Dixon  came  into  fame  so  completely 
that  he  forgot  the  God  that  he  first  pretended  to  worship,  in 
order  to  worship  the  one  that  gave  him  so  much  fame  while 
here  on  earth,  along  with  the  glittering  gold,  and  before  his 
first  book  was  published  (certain  portions  of  it  were  given  to 
the  press)  he  was  met  face  to  face  by  an  earnest  man,  who 
told  him  of  certain  things  that  he  had  published  which  were 
entirely  erroneous  and  were  calculated  to  bring  great  shame 
upon  the  city  and  do  great  harm  throughout  the  country  in 
the  end,  as  the  circumstances  were  entirel}-  different  from 
what  he  had  printed,  and  he  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to  tell 
him  the  real  facts  in  some  of  the  particular  matters  that  they 
were  discussing.  His  reply,  after  hearing  what  was  told 
him,  was  that  he  knew  that  it  was  all  politics  and  bunk,  yet 
he  did  not  change  any  of  his  wild  lies,  as  he  found  they 
would  sell  his  book.  What  will  be  his  excuse  when  soon  he 
will  have  to  meet  the  honest  Judge,  when  he  finds  that  he 
has  led  thousands  by  the  little  word  ''hate"  to  destruction? 

The  Red  Shirt  campaign,  from  that  year,  spread  until  it 
has  reached  all  over  the  United  States.  Where  there  are  no 
negroes,  the  ones  of  that  training  mob  each  other  when  they 
see  fit.  Many  of  the  pulpits  seem  to  act  as  though  it  was 
none  of  their  business ;  then  wonder  why  the  old  church  is 
losing  the  influence  it  once  had,  when  stealing  was  treated  as 
stealing,  and  murder  and  other  crimes  were  treated  by  God- 
fearing people  as  such. 

After  ten  days  of  strenuous  watching  and  waiting,  with 
hundreds  of  the  citizens,  some  through  fear,  and  others  be- 
cause they  were  ordered,  the  city  became  safe  enough  to  let 
the  visiting  companies  go  home,  but  many  of  them  said  that 
they  greatly  regretted  doing  so,  as  they  had  had  the  times  of 
their  lives.  The  reporters  could  say  the  same,  but  one  of  the 
New  York  reporters  happened  to  step  aside,  and  picked  up 
an  inkling  from  one  of  the  boys  of  how  the  game  was  being 
played,  and  wlien  he  wont  back  to  New  York  he  wrote  an 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS  115 

article  giving  a  good  inauy  of  the  facts  as  they  really  were, 
and  the  politicians  have  never  forgiven  that  paper,  from  that 
day  to  this. 

To  pay  the  ten  days  expenses,  after  spending  the  thousands 
they  found  in  the  treasury,  they  began  to  borrow,  until  the 
tax  rate  is  from  two  to  three  times  higher  than  it  was  when 
they  found  it,  and  the  valuation  of  the  property  has  been 
increased  two  to  three  times.  During  the  last  few  years 
there  has  been  much  improvement  in  the  old  city,  yet  there 
is  too  much  expense,  and  the  expenses  must  be  reduced,  if 
owners  are  to  continue  to  ow^i  their  property. 

When  the  public  temperament  was  thought  modified, 
though  prejudices  were  still  steeped  and  running  over  in 
many  of  the  active  ones,  Bennie  went  about  to  try  to  get 
together  the  business  that  was  once  so  fair  and  promising, 
but  he  found  that  the  plotters  had  and  were  still  putting  in 
their  nefarious  work  against  him  all  over  the  territory  in 
which  he  sold  goods.  They  could  get  the  business  probably 
themselves,  and  obey  orders  at  the  same  time,  and  having  to 
go  down  and  open  the  store  after  all  his  clerks  were  beguiled 
away  from  him,  with  the  "grip"  on  him  he  became  feeble  and 
a  deep  cold  fell  upon  his  lungs  that  lasted  him  for  years. 
At  the  same  time,  when  sending  his  men  out  later  on  the 
road,  they  would  come  back  with  not  an  order  on  their  books, 
saying  to  him  they  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  man  so 
belied  in  all  their  lives.  When  he  quit  trading,  many  who 
could  pay  would  not,  and  he  not  only  lost  one  of  the  best 
businesses,  but  the  greater  portion  of  what  was  owing  him, 
as  he  saw  there  was  no  use  to  go  before  a  court,  as  they  had 
so  cruelly  poisoned  the  minds  of  the  people  against  him. 

He  then  started  a  new  business  that  none  of  his  competi- 
tors were  in.  He  soon  began  to  make  money  as  before,  as 
well  as  to  try  to  forget  and  forgive  those  whom  God  will 
settle  with.  W^hen  those  up  North,  as  well  as  some  in  the 
city,  saw  that  the  new  business  was  doing  well,  especially 
after  they  learned  that  he  was  clearing  a  thousand  dollars 


116  MEMORIES 


per  month  above  expenses,  they  commenced  to  come  in  from 
the  l^orth  and  elsewhere,  trying  to  divide  the  trade  with  him, 
but  they  soon  found  that  they  could  not  get  the  business 
unless  they  paid  more  than  the  price  he  was  pa^dng.  As  they 
raised  the  price  in  order  to  turn  the  business  their  way,  so 
would  he  have  to  raise,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  new 
competitors  were  paying  more  than  they  were  getting,  besides 
losing  the  trade,  but  as  Bonnie  was  under  a  sig-ned  contract 
to  deliver  so  much  each  month  at  a  given  price,  so  were  his 
competitors,  and  he  soon  began  losing  about  the  same  amount 
each  month  as  his  profits  were  at  first.  When  the  wild-cat 
firms  had  gotten  all  the  advancements  from  the  banks  and 
timber  factors  North,  they  began  to  fail.  The  smallest  of 
the  failures  was  one  of  Bennie's  clerks  during  the  Red  Shirt 
campaign,  and  amounted  to  over  $20,000 ;  the  next  failure 
was  for  $65,000 ;  the  next,  $77,500 ;  the  next,  $400,000. 

While  all  this  unfair  competition  was  going  on,  Bennie 
was  fulfilling  his  obligations  each  month,  which  took  all  that 
he  had  in  his  corporation;  and  though  he  was  not  legally 
responsible  for  any  more,  yet  to  protect  his  creditors  he  sold 
nearly  two  thousand  acres  of  land  and  fulfilled  his  obligations 
to  the  letter,  winning  thanks  from  those  who  knew  the  great 
sacrifice  that  he  had  made.  He  was  often  told  that  they  said 
in  New  York  and  Boston  and  elsewhere  that  there  was  one 
honest  man  do^\m  in  the  tide  region,  if  there  were  lots  of 
crooks. 

In  the  meantime  he  had  been  offered  three  government 
positions,  including  the  postoffice,  through  the  friendship  and 
sympathy  of  the  two  Senators  whom  he  had  not  sought  to 
elect.  He  refused  all  of  them.  Later,  there  came  up  a  big 
fiffht  for  the  collector  of  customs,  with  six  avowed  candi- 
dates.  One  was  the  ex-Governor,  one  the  wealthiest  man  in 
the  old  city,  and  the  balance  long-experienced  office-getters. 
Having  no  thought  or  desire  to  ask  for  any  place,  Bennie 
was  continually  being  approached  by  some  of  his  friends, 
who  could  be  seen  then  talking  to  him,  insisting  that  he  ask 


Tin:  COLLECTOR  OF  CLtiTOM^  117 

for  the  place.  They  proposed  to  take  a  petition  around  to 
his  friends,  who  it  was  said  would  be  glad  to  sigii  it.  To  his 
surprise,  a  great  many  of  those  that  he  had  no  idea  of  seeing 
their  names,  among  the  business  men,  were  on  it.  The  peti- 
tion was  virtually  out  of  his  hands,  and  as  soon  as  it  became 
known  they  began  sending  telegrams  and  letters  to  the  Presi- 
dent. He  saw  one  of  the  telegrams,  which  cost  about  twelve 
dollars  to  send.  On  offering  to  reimburse  the  sender,  it  was 
refused,  notwithstanding  he  did  all  he  could  to  elect  Bryan, 
and  it  was  known  to  the  President,  but  after  a  month  of 
strenuous  fighting,  put  up  by  his  opponents,  he  was  appointed 
by  President  Roosevelt,  after  it  had  been  offered  to  the  ex- 
Governor  by  two  Senators.  The  wife  of  one  of  the  Senators 
contended  that  the  young  man  from  the  old  city  had  to  have 
the  place,  and  while  both  Senators  wanted  him  to  have  it,  yet, 
to  pacify  the  ex-Governor,  who  was  asking  for  another  place, 
they  offered  it  to  him.  When  offered,  it  was  accepted,  and 
things  changed  and  changed. 

When  the  young  man  of  the  old  town  finally  worked  his 
way  through  policemen,  detectives,  and  doorkeepers  until 
he  got  to  the  inner  door,  where  the  old  colored  man,  who  had 
been  there  since  Lincoln,  but  finding  him  easy  to  get  ac- 
quainted with,  he  made  a  plan  with  him  to  speak  to  the  secre- 
tary to  the  President,  Mr.  Loeb,  but  while  waiting  for  his 
turn,  he  found  that  the  old  man  was  raised  near  where  his 
new  acquaintance  was.  That  made  things  look  easy;  but 
when  he  finally  said  that  he  was  once  whipped  in  the  old 
town  by  a  patroller  of  the  same  name  as  the  new  gaiest,  and 
had  been  wanting  to  see  him  for  a  long  time  in  order  to  get 
even  with  him,  things  began  not  to  look  so  bright.  When  he 
told  the  old  inner  doorkeeper  that  his  father  was  in  the  serv- 
ice, and  had  left  the  old  town  years  before,  besides  he  did 
not  allow  his  own  foreman  or  overseer  to  whip  his  slaves,  nor 
any  one  else,  and  that  they  were  cared  for  like  the  family, 
also  that  the  other  family  were  no  relation  of  his,  the  old 
doorkeeper  began  to  feel  more  kindly,  and  it  was  not  long 


118  MEMORIES 


before  he  could  see  the  secretary  to  the  President.  The  door 
was  soon  opened ;  the  Secretary  was  pointed  out  to  him,  as 
the  new  guest  had  already  sent  in  a  slip  with  his  name  on  it, 
with  the  message  that  he  just  wanted  to  shake  his  hand.  He 
was  met  and  cordially  received,  as  he  M-as  a  prince  of  a  man. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  talking,  both  standing,  the  Secre- 
tary was  told  that  there  was  a  petition  gotten  up  by  some  of 
his  friends  in  the  old  town,  asking  for  his  appointment  as 
collector,  and  was  asked  if  he  would  mail  it  from  his  hotel — 
would  he  see  that  the  President  got  it  ?  The  reply  was,  ''Cer- 
tainly ;  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  do  so."  After  thanking  him 
and  starting  out,  he  was  asked  if  he  had  ever  met  the  Presi- 
dent. He  was  told  no.  The  Secretary  then  said,  "Wait  a 
few  minutes ;  he  will  soon  be  out,  and  T  will  be  glad  to  pre- 
sent you  to  him."  Beunie  thanked  him  again,  and  in  less 
than  five  minutes  the  President  came  from  his  private  room, 
speaking  to  some  of  the  Senators  that  were  waiting  near  his 
door,  and  when  he  reached  the  Secretary  he  was  taken  over 
to  where  Bennie  was.  The  Secretary  introduced  them,  tell- 
ing the  President  that  Mr. had  a  petition  from  quite  a 

number  of  citi;^ens  in  North  Carolina,  in  the  old  city,  that 
he  wanted  him  to  consider.  He  said  that  he  would  consider 
it  with  pleasure  and  to  send  it  up  any  time. 

The  meeting,  after  getting  in,  tvirned  out  to  be  real  pleas- 
ant, as  well  as  hopeful,  though  it  was  said  by  all  at  the  capi- 
tal that  no  one  could  get  an  interview  Avith  the  President 
without  a  Senator  or  Ilepresentative  or  other  ]n'omiiient  per- 
son; but,  having  overcome  all  of  that,  and  the  cordial  recep- 
tion just  received,  he  hastened  to  his  hotel,  found  the  stenog- 
rapher, writing  first  what  he  wanted  to  say.  When  copied, 
it  filled  more  than  two  sheets  of  foolscap  paper,  and  every 
word  meant  something.  At  four  o'clock  p.  m.  it  and  the  peti- 
tion were  put  in  the  j)ostofiice.  By  eight-thirty  he  had  re- 
ceived an  answer,  saying,  "Come  up  next  morning."  By 
eight-thirty  a.  m.  he  was  back  at  the  White  House,  talking 
to  the  newly  acquainted  doorkeeper,  who  no  doubt  still  re- 


77//;  COLLECTOR   OF  CUSTOMS  119 

membered  that  his  new  acquaintance's  name  was  the  same  as 
the  one  that  he  had  been  wanting  to  meet,  but  it  was  soon 
forgotten  and  was  ghid  to  know  his  new  North  Carolina 
friend,  as  both  came  from  the  same  State,  and  near  adjoin- 
ing counties. 

When  the  princely  Secretary  saw  who  it  was,  he  gave  the 
same  kindly  welcome,  and  was  told  to  call  that  afternoon,  but 
in  the  meantime  the  good  Senator's  wife  was  harassing  him 
so,  he  said,  he  was  not  able  to  sleep  the  night  before,  telling 
him  what  was  what.  The  other  Senator  had  taken  a  flying 
trip  to  Kew  York  to  catch  the  ex-Governor,  to  persuade  him 
to  decline  the  offer,  but  he  was  told  no — he  had  it  and  was 
going  to  keep  it ;  but  the  next  morning  the  Senators  were 
sent  for  by  the  President,  and  were  told  that  he  had  decided 
to  take  the  collectorship  in  hand  and  would  decide  that  mat- 
ter to  suit  himself. 

In  the  meantime,  calling  one  of  the  secretaries  and  asking 
for  a  piece  of  paper,  he  wrote  the  name  of  the  supposed 
intruder  to  the  White  House,  and  requested  that  it  be  sent 
over  to  the  Senate.  When  the  news  was  flashed  all  over  the 
capital  city  and  country,  it  was  the  least  expected,  as  those 
who  were  stopping  at  the  same  hotel,  although  sympathizing 
with  him,  were  remarking  to  one  another  that  the  poor  fellow 
had  better  be  home,  saving  his  expenses,  as  they  would  not 
give  two  cents  for  his  chance.  Even  the  old  fox,  the  ex- 
mayor,  when  his  plotting  did  not  give  him  the  mayor's  place, 
as  he  expected,  went  to  Washington  with  some  of  his  friends, 
trying  to  get  the  collector's  place,  willing  to  turn  the  old 
town  bottom  side  up,  politically,  if  the  place  was  thrown  on 
him;  but  a  Republican  who  was  for  Bryan,  and  whom  the 
Democrats  refused  to  let  be  one  of  the  eleven  electors,  heard 
him  telling  what  he  could  do  if  he  could  get  the  place.  No 
sooner  than  he  finished,  this  tall  mountaineer,  with  his  keen, 
sparkling  eyes,  with  the  courage  of  a  lion,  walked  up  to  him, 
pointed  his  finger  at  his  face  and  began  to  pile  up  epithets 
upon  him  that  could  not  be  published,  telling  him  that  his 


120  MEMORIES 


blood-stained  hands  were  not  vet  dry,  and  that  if  he  was 
there  twelve  hours  longer  he  would  be  arrested  for  the  offense 
he  had  committed,  and  that  was  the  last  seen  of  him  at  the 
capital.  Consequently,  there  was  one  less  applicant  for  the 
little-paying  office,  though  much-sought  one,  the  salary  hav- 
ing been  cut  from  four  thousand  five  hundred  by  the  Demo- 
crats just  before  they  went  out  under  Cleveland,  to  one  thou- 
sand dollars  and  two  and  one-half  per  cent  commission  on  all 
duties  collected  on  imported  goods.  As  the  Gorman  and  Wil- 
son tariff  took  off  most  all  the  tariff  that  came  through  that 
port,  there  were  but  little  fees ;  and  salary  and  fees,  during 
the  first  year  of  Bennie's  administration,  was  only  thirteen 
hundred  dollars ;  but  the  office  was  then  sought  more  for 
honor  than  emolument — that  is,  by  honest  men.  In  this  case 
it  was  sought  not  only  for  the  honor,  but  to  show  the  plotters 
that  they  could  not  hoodwink  the  government  if  they  could 
the  inhabitants  of  the  small  city. 

When  the  new  collector  took  charge,  the  affairs  were  con- 
ducted so  very  differently  from  the  way  that  he  had  always 
conducted  his  private  business,  that  it  seemed  a  mystery  how 
the  government  put  up  with  the  sleepy  go-easy  way  of  allow- 
ing it  to  be  run,  but  after  it  was  learned  that  the  collector 
of  customs  in  most  places,  was  moving  along  in  the  same 
way  waiting  for  the  first  of  the  month,  with  no  idea  of  letting 
up  on  any  of  the  requisitions,  for  all  that  they  could  get  to 
be  stored  away,  to  be  wasted,  etc.  However,  there  was  a 
change;  gradually  the  old  Rip  Van  Winkles  were  not  com- 
fortable long,  one  in  one  chair,  and  one  in  the  other,  keeping 
time,  making  music  by  the  bow  and  time  that  they  would 
keep  one  with  another,  but  something  was  soon  found  for 
them  to  do,  and  the  inspector  did  the  guaging  as  well  as  to 
sign  his  daily  reports,  and  all  the  extra  expense  was  cut 
off,  when  it  was  found  not  needed,  and  there  was  soon  a 
general  cleaning  up,  all  through,  but  as  it  is  hard  to  teach 
people  things  that  they  do  not  want  to  learn,  they  were 
gradually  weeded  out,  and  new  up-to-date  men  were  received 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS  121 

into  the  office,  who  were  willing  and  anxious  to  learn,  and 
be  trained  by  the  new  collector,  who  knew  no  man  except 
to  treat  him  right,  no  more,  no  less,  from  the  richest  to  the 
poorest,  and  to  spare  no  means,  to  give  all  who  had  business 
through  the  office  all  the  help  that  they  could. 

It  was  not  many  years  before  the  office  was  praised,  not 
only  by  the  local  men,  who  had  continuous  business  with  it, 
but  masters  and  sailors,  from  everywhere  over  the  country, 
the  convenience  of  the  shippers  and  the  captains  were  con- 
sidered, and  when  they  wanted  to  clear,  there  would  be 
some  one  in  the  office,  to  sign  the  papers.  Formerly  the 
old  Eip  Van  Winkles  would  not  move  before  nine  in  the 
morning,  and  close  at  four,  and  if  they  felt  like  accommodat- 
ing any  of  the  masters  or  shippers,  they  would  consider  they 
were  doing  a  special  favor. 

When  the  captains  and  sailors  of  any  of  the  vessels  had 
any  diiferences  there  were  always  constables  and  runners  to 
get  them  to  take  their  case  to  trial  justices,  no  doubt  the 
fees  being  divided  with  them,  but  after  finding  some  one 
in  the  collector's  office  so  often,  collecting  money  from  the 
master  or  his  crew,  after  finding  out  their  method,  the  col- 
lector, as  custodian,  had  the  right  to  have  such  matters 
brought  before  him,  which  he  did  from  then  on,  for  over 
ten  years,  with  his  saving  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the 
master  and  his  sailors,  with  not  one  cent  in  the  custodian's 
pocket,  as  there  were  no  fees  attached  to  that  office.  During 
this  period,  every  single  case,  except  one,  was  amicably 
settled,  though  many  times,  when  coming  in  the  office,  they 
had  to  be  guarded  from  injuring  each  other,  often  threaten- 
ing each  other's  lives.  After  the  case  was  heard  by  the 
custodian,  they  would  often  go  out  locked  arms,  or  on  each 
other's  shoulders,  better  friends  than  ever. 

The  case  that  would  not  be  settled  by  one  of  the  sailors, 
claiming  that  he  was  the  head  of  one  of  the  New  York 
unions,  and  after  rejecting  the  decision  of  the  custodian, 
he  appealed  his  case  to  Washington,  D.  (.\     There  the  court 


122  MEMORIES 


held  with  the  custodian,  and  his  attorney's  fees  were  for 
nought,  and  he  had  to  come  hack  and  take  the  money  awarded 
him  by  the  custodian. 

When  the  authorities  at  Washington  saw  that  the  office 
was  run  on  a  business  basis,  and  the  receipts  were  climbing 
up  each  year  through  the  energy^  of  the  collector,  by  getting 
the  importers  to  have  their  goods  to  come  to  their  own  port 
for  the  duty  to  be  paid  instead  of  New  York,  Baltimore, 
and  other  points,  when  it  was  turned  through  the  gateway, 
(as  he  named  it)  of  their  own  port,  something  the  importer 
had  not  thought  of,  nor  did  not  think  it  could  be  done,  as 
many  said  it  could  not.  There  was  no  further  attempt  to 
have  the  main  collector's  office,  for  the  State,  to  be  moved 
to  New  Bern,  by  the  one  who  had  taught  that  where  there 
were  more  negro  voters,  whether  they  voted  or  not,  the 
greater  the  Democratic  majority  was,  and  the  same  stands 
against  those  who  vote  against  the  machine  today,  though 
all  are  white  people.  Wlien  the  receipts  began  to  increase 
so  rapidly,  and  the  collector  having  seen  all  the  while  the 
need  of  a  new  custom  building,  as  the  repairs  on  it  each 
year  seemed  to  be  useless,  notwithstanding  the  inspectors  of 
public  building,  whose  duty  it  was  to  look  after  them,  said 
that  Uncle  Sam  wanted  his  money  spent  that  way. 

The  collector,  believing  it  a  perfect  waste,  began  to  take 
the  matter  up  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  finally 
prevailed  upon  him  and  his  First  Assistant  Secretary,  Mr. 
Winthrop,  to  send  down  an  architect  to  inspect  the  building, 
and  see  if  it  was  worth  repairing,  and  if  he  saw  proper 
to  condemn  the  old  building,  to  do  so,  and  provide  a  plan 
for  a  new  one.  The  special  architect  was  sent,  and  he 
turned  out  to  be  a  friend,  and  one  who  was  raised  in  the 
adjoining  county  from  the  collector,  whose  family  the  col- 
lector had  known  from  boyhood.  For  one  week  he  remained, 
and  was  shown  every  crack  and  ugly  spot  inside  of  the 
old  building  that  could  be  seen,  and  when  he  was  not  busy, 
he  was  taken  care  of  in  an  agreeable  manner  while  he  was 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS  1*2:J 


ill  the  city.  When  he  left,  he  expressed  his  appreciation 
and  said  that  he  would  make  an  early  report,  with  recom- 
mendations for  a  new  customs  building. 

The  collector  had  spoken  to  many  of  the  business  men 
about  the  new  building,  and  many  agreed  with  him,  thinking 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  new  one  by  all  means,  as  the  old 
trap  was  over  a  hundred  years  old,  inadequate  in  all  respects, 
while  others  would  say  that  as  it  had  been  there  about  one 
hundred  years  and  they  had  gotten  along  very  w^ell  with 
it,  they  thought  it  good  enough  for  many  more  years.  How- 
ever, that  did  not  dampen  the  collector's  zeal  for  something 
in  keeping  with  other  cities  whose  export  and  imports  did 
not  equal  that  of  the  old  city,  and  he  decided  to  get  the 
chamber  of  commerce,  of  which  he  was  an  active  member, 
to  indorse  the  recommendation  for  a  new  building.  To 
his  surprise,  some  of  them,  as  he  saw  it,  still  had  it  in 
for  him  and  were  against  anything  that  he  might  get  credit 
for.  When  he  read  the  resolutions,  as  coming  from  the 
chamber  of  commerce  to  Congress,  asking  for  five  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  a  new  building,  there  were 
six  speeches  made,  five  against  the  appropriation  and  only 
one  for  it,  the  collector  himself.  After  listening  to  each  of 
the  wise  and  various  remarks,  his  patience  was  exhausted 

and  he  got  up  and  said :  "Men,  for  G sake,  if  you  are 

not  willing  to  help  me  do  something  for  your  to^vn,  hold 
your  hands  down,  and  I  will  do  it  myself." 

The  president  of  the  largest  bank  in  the  city  got  up  and 
said,  "I  move  that  the  collector  be  let  alone,  and  given  a 
free  hand  to  get  it  if  he  can."  This  was  the  beginning 
of  six  years  of  fight  that  kept  him  busy  a  great  portion  of 
the  time,  when  not  attending  to  his  work,  going  to  Washing- 
ton dozens  of  times,  paying  his  own  expenses,  as  well  as 
for  all  telegTams  during  those  strenuous  times,  using  every 
efi'ort  to  secure  the  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  appro- 
priation for  the  new  building,   which  he  got   in  the  end, 


124  MEMORIES 


working  almost  alone,  certainly,  with  few  exceptions,  with- 
out help  from  those  who  shonld  have  taken  more  interest 
in  it. 

In  the  meantime,  he  had  gained  the  friendship  of  Secretary 
Hillis,  who  was  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who  had 
begam  to  appreciate  the  work  of  the  collector,  stating  to  the 
committee  that  the  collector  would  not  ask  for  anything 
that  was  not  needed.  After  the  first  three  and  one  half  years, 
they  had  gotten  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
and  were  very  much  elated.  The  collector  was  told  by  the 
secretary  that  Congress  adjourned  that  night,  and  it  was 
all  fixed,  but  to  be  certain  the  secretary,  in  the  presence  of 
the  collector  in  his  ofiice,  called  up  each  of  the  appropriation 
committee  and  all  said  that  it  would  go  through  at  the 
closing  session  that  night,  as  it  had  been  unanimously  agreed 
upon. 

The  collector  saw  that  it  was  unnecessary  to  remain  over 
another  day,  and  told  the  secretary  that  he  would  go  home, 
which  was  agreed,  but  on  his  way  home  next  morning,  he 
picked  up  a  paper,  and  saw  that  just  before  adjournment 
that  the  appropriation  had  been  cut  to  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  by  the  influence  of  some  one  who  did  not 
care  to  let  it  be  known.  On  reaching  home,  the  collector 
was  complimented,  and  advised  not  to  try  any  further,  but 
as  soon  as  Congress  convened  in  the  fall,  the  Senator,  who 
had  tried  to  abolish  the  customs  service  in  the  old  city,  and 
move  it  to  his  to\vn,  introduced  a  bill  in  the  Senate,  asking 
for  an  appropriation  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
a  new  customs  building  in  his  own  town.,  that  had  not  more 
than  nine  to  eleven  feet  of  water  available.  The  collector 
had  fox  hunted  when  a  boy,  running  them  mostly  moon- 
light nights,  and  he  had  then  learned  there  were  some  cun- 
ning old  foxes  that  could  fool  the  dog  every  time,  often 
by  back  tracking,  then  running  fences,  running  bent  trees, 
high  logs,  etc.,  and  he  had  observed  many  of  the  fox's  tricks, 
which  are  used  to  this  day  by  some  of  our  representatives 


rilE  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS  125 

to  fool  their  followers.  Ko  sooner  than  the  collector  saw  the 
bill  for  a  new  appropriation  had  been  introduced  by  the 
old  fox,  for  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  a  customs 
house  at  l^ew  Bern,  he  got  in  touch  with  the  treasurer,  Mr. 
Hillis,  whose  heart  had  gotten  in  the  work,  and  got  his  assur- 
ance of  help ;  he  then  went  to  the  other  Senator,  who  promised 
to  help  get  it  back  the  first  opportunity,  also  to  the  Congress- 
man for  that  district,  with  some  of  the  other  CongTess- 
men  from  the  State,  who  had  helped  in  the  matter,  and  it 
w^as  agreed  with  the  CongTessman  who  represented  the  old 
city  that  they  would  ask  for  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
more,  the  same  the  old  fox  had,  for  his  town.  The  collector, 
having  gone  to  Washing-ton  so  often  after  his  Congressman 
having  introduced  the  bill,  going  before  the  appropriation 
committee,  having  no  committee  with  him  from  the  same 
town,  but  there  being  large  delegations  from  many  of  the 
cities  of  the  country,  to  go  before  the  appropriation  com- 
mittee when  they  met,  to  make  it  appear  that  he  was  not 
alone  the  collector  would  sit  in  the  midst  of  some  of  the 
large  delegations  from  Oklahoma  or  from  some  other  state, 
and  when  the  opportunity  presented  itself,  he  would  speak 
for  the  entire  committee  from  his  city.  The  additional  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  was  finally  secured,  after  three 
years  more  of  strenuous  work,  making  in  all  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  as  Uncle  Joe  Cannon,  who  was  the 
boss  of  the  appropriation  committee,  and  had  put  his  foot 
down  on  any  big  appropriations,  but  being  like  the  old 
colored  inner  door-keeper  at  the  White  House,  a  kind  of 
friendship  existed  between  the  collector  and  the  old  states- 
man, as  both  felt  the  tie  that  binds  all  North  Carolinians 
wherever  they  are  found,  and  after  the  appropriation  had 
passed,  he  remarked,  with  cigar  in  mouth,  that  it  was  the 
largest  appropriation  that  had  ever  been  gotten  through 
Congress,  since  he  had  been  there,  by  any  single  man. 

Soon  after  this,  the  plans  for  the  new  building  were  drawn, 
with  a  roof  garden  on  top,   at  the  earnest  request  of  the 


126  MEMORIES 


collector,  where  the  band  of  the  cutter  could  go  up  bv  elevator, 
as  well  as  for  others  to  attend  the  various  entertainments, 
where  the  musicians  could  make  music  for  the  delight  of 
the  people,  with  parks  and  iron  benches  and  cement  walks 
for  the  women  and  children  to  rest  on  while  enjoying  the 
music.  This  suggestion  of  the  roof  garden  for  the  young 
cutter  boys  to  play,  came  by  suggestion  from  the  captain 
of  the  cutter,  as  he  said  that  it  would  enable  him  to  keep  a 
better  class  of  boys.  Having  gotten  the  use  of  the  cutter, 
every  time  it  had  been  suggested  by  the  collector,  for  the 
various  entertainments  of  the  various  organizations,  farmers, 
etc.,  as  well  as  having  gotten  it  to  entertain  President  Taft, 
and  the  invited  guests,  after  the  collector  had  induced  him 
through  the  friendship  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
to  visit  the  city  on  his  three  months  trip,  spending  an  entire 
day  and  night,  which  was  several  times  more  than  he  gave 
any  other  city  on  his  trip.  The  plans  were  marked  out 
and  approved  before  the  invitation  was  accepted.  Had  it 
not  been,  there  were  men  little  enough  on  the  entertainment 
committee  of  the  city  to  have  taken  the  management  entirely 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  collector,  and  of  those  that  he  added 
in  the  beginning. 

The  collector  was  real  glad  that  the  plan  for  the  new 
building  was  accepted,  for  the  roof  garden  and  the  small 
park,  that  was  to  have  been  around  the  building  would 
have  been  such  a  gTcat  pleasure  to  the  people  of  the  city. 
No  sooner  than  Mr.  Wilson  was  elected  president,  than 
there  began  a  conspiracy  against  the  collector  to  get  him  out, 
but  his  commission  lacked  two  and  a  half  years  of  being  out 
(as  the  collector  is  always  appointed  for  a  term  of  four 
years),  and  he  may  not  be  removed  except  for  good  cause, 
until  his  commission  expires,  and,  although  no  other  in  the 
United  States  was  removed  from  office  without  cause,  yet 
he  was  to  be  made  an  example  of  by  one  of  those  who  waited 
upon  him  twice  in  one  day  telling  him  that  he  either  had 
to  join  the  Ked  Shirt  club,  or  leave  the  town  or  have  his 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF  CUSTOMS  127 


business   destroyed   and  take  the   consequences.     Whenever 
they   could   discredit   him    in   any   and   every   way   that   it 
could   be   brought    about,  they   did   so.      It   is   strange,  but 
true  nevertheless,  that  whenever  you  have  been  deeply  and 
grievously  injured  by  another,  without  any  cause,  they  are 
often  the  last  one  to  forgive  the  one  that  they  have  injured. 
It  is  true  that  one  of  the  three  committeemen,  who  w^as  not 
an  active  church  worker,  met  the  collector  about  two  years 
after  he  was  waited  on  by  him,  on  one  of  the  principal  streets 
of  the  city,  and  asked  the  collector  to  let  him  talk  with  him. 
He  was  told  to  go  ahead,  and  he  commenced  to  apologize 
for  what  he  had  done,  telling  the  collector  that  he  was  then 
willing  to  get  do\\ai  on  his  knees  in  the  middle  of  the  street 
and  beg  his  pardon  for  the  mean  way  that  he  had  helped 
to  treat  him,  and  further  stated  that  he  had  not  been  able 
to  look  him  straight  in  the  face  since  that  time,  his  conscience 
had  so  annoyed  him.     The  collector  told  him  that  he  had 
forgiven  him  long  ago,  as  it  was  not  in  his  heart  to  carry 
malice  against  anyone,  and  he  had  no  ill  feeling  toward  him, 
as  that  was  a  matter  for  him  and  his  Creator,  for  which  he 
hoped  that  he  had  been  forgiven.     After  that,  he  and  the 
collector  were  again  good  friends,  and  the  latter  was  in  a 
position  to  throw  many  things  in  his  way,  which  he  did,  and 
they  were  highly  appreciated. 

During  the  trial  and  persecution  that  Bennie  went  through, 
he  often  wondered  why  he  was  not  allowed  to  remain  dead 
when  he  was  almost  drowned  at  the  old  mill  when  a  lad  of 
six  years  of  age.  He  had  gone  with  his  older  brother  to  the 
mill  to  get  corn  ground,  and  they  had  gone  in  bathing.  Get- 
ting in  beyond  his  depth,  he  had  gone  down  the  last  time,  and 
was  dived  for,  and  brought  out  lifeless,  apparently,  and  they 
rolled  him  on  the  dam  until  life  came  back.  The  last  thoughts 
he  remembered  were  that  he  would  not  see  his  papa  and  sis- 
ters any  more,  with  no  pain,  only  that  of  a  strangle,  except 
w^hen  coming  to.     When  all  had  deserted  him  save  his  little 


128  MEMORIES 


family,  he  could  not  but  think  that  it  would  have  been  better 
for  him  to  have  died  then,  but  God  seemed  to  have  a  special 
purpose  in  protecting  him  then,  as  well  as  on  other  occasions. 
In  a  short  time  afterwards,  the  attempt  began  to  get  rid 
of  the  collector.  The  news  gatherers  at  Washing-ton  had  hot 
and  caustic  articles  concerning  the  dismissal  of  the  collector, 
because  he  had  in  reorganizing  the  customs  service  of  the 
State  gone  by  the  Treasurer's  request  to  appoint  the  best 
qualified  clerks  they  could  obtain  to  fill  the  various  places ; 
but  when  article  after  article  came  out,  which  were  circulated 
all  over  the  State,  claiming  that  he  had  not  consulted  the 
senior  fox  Senator,  which  he  had  no  right  to  do,  he  then  was 
accused  of  filling  the  offices  with  Republicans.  When  that 
was  investigated,  it  was  found  that  there  had  only  been  one 
deputy  appointed  out  of  the  entire  lot  who  was  a  Republican, 
all  the  rest  being  Democrats.  The  dispatch  reporters  often 
reported  certain  men  in  Washington  who  were  connected  with 
one  of  the  larger  banks,  all  being  directors,  and  in  a  day  or 
two  the  papers  would  be  reporting  that  the  old  fox  was  deter- 
mined to  see  that  the  present  collector  should  go,  and  that  a 
certain  fox's  man  would  be  recommended  for  the  place  as 
well.  He  was  also  a  director  of  the  bank,  as  well  as  part 
owner  of  the  leading  newspaper  in  the  city;  and  while  the 
manager  of  the  paper  had  often  said  of  the  then  collector 
that  he  had  done  so  much  for  the  city  in  securing  the  appro- 
priation and  other  things,  that  if  he  w^anted  the  place  he 
ought  to  have  it  as  long  as  he  lived.  However,  when  the  new 
aspirant  came  into  the  ring,  the  old  collector  could  not  get 
anything  further  in  the  controlled  paper,  but  it  began  to  cry 
to  turn  every  one  out  who  was  not  a  Wilson  idolater  and  who 
had  refused  to  vote  for  him.  Many  of  the  other  machine 
papers  of  the  State  said  the  same  thing — that,  as  custodian, 
the  new  collector  that  was  soon  to  be,  would  get  a  commission 
of  six  thousand  to  twelve  thousand  dollars  on  the  building 
fund,  and  of  course  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  have  the  six  hun- 


THE  COLLECTOR  OF  CV^TOMfi  129 

drcd  thousand  dollars  transferred  to  the  bank,  that  he  and 
his  friends  were  interested  in,  and  who  were  so  often  in 
Washington  with  him. 

When  a  new  set  of  batteries  would  be  turned  loose  on  the 
collector,  it  must  have  been  after  thinking  of  the  twelve  thoii- 
sand  commission  and  the  six  hundred  thousand  that  would  be 
placed  in  their  bank.  Of  course,  it  must  have  looked  good  to 
them.  But  the  collector  was  too  well  informed  on  customs 
regulations  not  to  know  that  they  were  badly  fooled.  For 
twelve  years  he  was  custodian,  and  had  never  received  one 
cent,  as  all  moneys  were  kept  in  the  treasury  in  Washing- 
ton, and  was  only  paid  by  vouchers,  in  new  buildings,  signed 
by  the  supervising  architect,  but  he  let  the  joke  go  on. 

When  the  attacks  began  to  occur  almost  daily  on  the  col- 
lector, and  no  chance  to  deny  anything  through  their  kept 
paper,  he  went  to  Washington,  saw  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  treated  him  kindly,  and  when  he  was  asked 
if  he  had  seen  any  of  the  papers  in  which  the  collector  had 
been  continuously  attacked,  he  replied  that  he  had  had  several 
marked  copies  sent  him.  He  then  asked  if  he  would  have 
the  record  of  the  present  collector  searched,  from  the  time 
that  he  took  the  office  to  the  present,  to  see  how  it  stood.  The 
Secretary  replied  that  it  had  been  thoroughly  examined  and 
was  found  to  be  number  one,  and  said  that  they  would  not 
get  the  collector  out  by  his  consent.  But  as  the  old  fox  Sen- 
ator had  fallen  in  line  by  seniority  promotion  to  be  the  chair- 
man of  the  finance  committee  of  the  Senate,  which  e:ave 
him  a  powerful  weapon  over  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  collector,  knowing  it,  said  to  the  new  Treasurer  that  if 
the  old  fox  tried  to  take  the  advantage  of  this  position  in 
order  to  force  the  collector  out,  all  the  Treasurer  had  to  do 
was  to  notify  him,  and,  rather  than  embarrass  him,  he  could 
have  his  resignation ;  that  he  had  plowed  an  ox  and  would 
do  so  again  if  it  became  necessary.  The  collector  was 
thanked,  but  was  told  that  they  would  not  get  him  out  until 
his  commission  expired. 
9 


CHAPTER  XII 


BACK    TO    THE    FARM 


About  sixty  days  after  that,  the  collector  received  a  pri- 
vately marked  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
recalling  vt^hat  had  been  said  about  being  embarrassed,  and 
went  on  to  say  that  he  was  continually  being  sought  for  the 
place,  in  order  that  it  could  be  given  to  a  friend  of  the  party 
who  was  so  anxious  to  get  it  for  him.  The  collector's  resigna- 
tion went  forward  immediately.  In  a  few  days  he  received 
a  letter  of  thanks,  telling  him  to  hold  his  office  until  he  wrote 
him  to  turn  it  over  to  his  successor.  In  the  meantime  the  old 
fox  Senator  had  had  his  young  fox  appointed  collector,  but 
for  some  cause  it  was  held  up  for  some  weeks,  but  it  was 
reported  the  presence  of  the  young  fox  was  often  seen  in 
Washington,  and  some  of  his  acquaintances  said  that  he 
showed  nervousness,  but  after  waiting  and  waiting  for  so  long 
a  time,  his  nomination  was  confirmed.  After  some  days  his 
commission  was  sent  to  the  acting  collector,  marked  "Pri- 
vate," but  the  collector  being  out  of  to^\m  when  the  letter 
came,  the  news  was  soon  gotten  to  the  newly  appointed  col- 
lector, who,  it  was  said,  got  his  information  from  the  stenog- 
rapher and  bookkeeper,  who  was  the  only  "Wilson  man  in  the 
office,  and  of  course  thought  that  he  would  be  first  deputy,  but 
as  soon  as  the  new  collector  was  apprised  of  his  certificate  of 
appointment  in  the  postoffice,  he  goes  down  to  the  customs- 
house  and  requests  the  deputy  collector  to  go  to  the  postoffice 
and  get  it,  and  open  same  in  the  absence  of  the  collector  in 
charge.  The  deputy  collector  opened  it,  against  his  better 
judgment,  and  when  the  collector  returned  to  his  office  the 
next  morning  he  found  the  newly  appointed  collector  in  his 
chair,  at  his  desk,  who  turned  to  the  former  collector,  without 
any  explanation,  and  wanted  to  know  if  there  was  anything 
[130] 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  131 


he  could  do  for  him.  The  only  thing  that  was  said  by  the 
former  collector  as  he  turned  to  walk  out,  was  that  "You  will 
be  sorry  you  got  this  office  before  you  die." 

In  about  ten  days  afterwards,  the  former  collector  received 
a  letter,  addressed  to  him,  telling  him  to  turn  the  office  over 
to  the  newly  appointed  collector,  but  the  old  collector  had 
gone  to  his  farm,  and  the  letter  was  forwarded  to  him  there. 
The  new  collector  had  appropriated  the  time,  eight  to  ten 
days  pay,  to  himself,  and  continued  to  do  so.  It  reminds 
one  of  Jezebel's  cunningly  devised  plan  to  get  for  her  hus- 
band, Ahab,  l^aboth's  vineyard.  God's  word  is  always  true, 
though,  as  long  as  light  and  life  hold  out.  When  a  heart  is 
penitent,  He  is  ready  to  forgive.  Through  the  long  years  of 
persecution,  when  it  was  popular  to  misrepresent  the  one 
who  did  not  bow  his  knees  to  those  who  had  so  persistently 
sought  to  keep  the  misrepresentation  in  light,  in  order  that 
the  truth  might  remain  buried,  as  it  was  so  well  planned  and 
carried  out,  and  is  now  written  into  history,  dedicated  by 
those  who  plotted  the  act,  and  did  it  so  well  that  those  who 
did  not  approve  of  it  spoke  not  above  a  whisper  for  fear 
they  would  be  classed  a  negro-lover,  or  to  a  worse  fate. 

When  it  became  generally  known  that  the  press  that  the 
yellow  negro  had  used  to  arouse  so  much  bitterness  belonged 
to  one  of  the  editors,  and  the  building  that  he  occupied  be- 
longed to  another  Democrat,  the  city  aldermen  appropriated 
money  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  taxpayers,  thoiigh  without 
any  tooting  of  horns,  and  paid  for  same,  but  it  was  not 
known  whether  or  not  it  paid  for  the  expense  of  running  the 
negro  newspaper,  as  it  was  claimed  by  the  negroes,  and  white 
Republicans  as  well,  and  also  the  Populists,  that  not  a  single 
copy  was  taken  by  them  nor  allowed  to  enter  their  homes. 
A  very  frank  old  citizen,  before  he  died,  is  said  to  have  told 
who  was  the  father  of  the  article  that  caused  the  death  of 
the  innocent  negroes,  as  well  as  the  persecution  and  banish- 


132  MEMORIES 


ing  of  some  of  the  former  Republican  officeholders.  The  veil 
of  mystery  will  soon  be  pulled  off  the  faces  of  those  who 
had  things  as  they  liked  them  to  be  seen. 

THE  GREAT  ARTIST 

Sunset  at  dear  old  Caledonia  in  Autumn's  days, 
When  touched  with  tinges  by  the  Great  Artist's  hand, 
Reminds  us  of  the  grandeur  which  awaits  one  in  heavenly  land, 
Where  we  will  find  all  beauty  by  God's  own  hand. 

The  old  river  passing  its  water  gently  on, 
Furnishes  the  background  for  the  artist  here  who  has  begun 
To  bathe  in  the  beauty  of  the  life  to  be  in  this  beauty  land, 
Where  the  beauty  has  been  promised  on  every  hand. 

W^hy  is  mortal  man  so  slow  to  understand? 
That  the  Great  Artist  has  ready  prepared  this  glorious  land. 
There  patiently  waiting  for  every  converted  man. 
In  a  land  that  its  beauty  and  grandeur  is  more  than  man  can  under- 
stand. 

Is  man  too  busy  to  stop,  think  and  understand. 

Or  is  it  he  allows  Satan  around  him  to  stand. 

And  fear  man  may  become  wise,  expel  Satan  to  his  own  land, 

Where  there  will  be  legions  of  men  who  refused  to  understand? 

This  beauty  land  has  been  prepared  for  man. 
Will  you  put  Satan  out  and  occupy  this  land? 
For  it  is  yours  if  you  will  only  it  accept. 
By  serving  the  great  Artist,  and  Satan  reject. 

As  soon  as  the  new  collector  took  charge,  and  the  new  tariif 
was  made,  the  receipts  began  to  fall  off,  so  much  so  that  the 
duties  under  the  low  tariff  paid  at  the  port  scarcely  paid  the 
running  expenses  of  the  office ;  but  to  show  that  a  great  im- 
provement was  made  by  the  new  collector  and  the  progressive 
administration  at  Washington,  the  old  fox  conceived  a  plan 
to  boost  the  office  of  the  little  fox,  who  during  the  last  elec- 
tion, when  the  old  fox  was  running  for  reelection  against  his 
opponent,  the  little  fox  wrote  an  article  for  the  paper  that 
he  was  interested  in,  almost  claiming  that  the  old  Senator 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  133 

was  a  supernatural  power,  and  that  the  State  had  never  had, 
nor  probably  would  ever  have  again,  his  equal.  (About  three- 
fourths  of  the  people  agreed  with  his  last  statement.)  To 
boost  the  new  collector's  office,  seeing  that  it  was  running  on 
the  back  track,  the  big  head  of  the  finance  committee  of 
the  Senate  had  all  of  the  internal  revenues  that  were  collected 
in  the  State,  which  formerly  were  sent  direct  to  the  treasury, 
sent  through  the  collector's  office  of  the  old  town,  then  on  to 
Washington,  amounting  to  over  a  million  yearly,  though  it 
did  not  add  one  cent  to  the  duty  collected  at  the  old  port,  but 
his  administration  was  given  credit  for  the  great  increase 
through  the  kept  paper  that  he  was  connected  with.  Columns 
of  it  were  used  to  show  the  world  what  a  wonderful  collector 
he  was.  The  machine  papers  of  the  State  sang  his  praise,  as 
was  expected,  not  knowing  or  caring  that  it  was  only  a  confi- 
dence game.  With  this  big  increase,  the  old  foxy  Senator 
introduced  a  bill,  got  it  through  the  Senate,  to  double  the 
collector's  salary,  owing  to  the  fine  showing  in  collection,  as 
well  as  the  fine  trained  men  that  he  found  in  the  office.  It 
had  to  go  through  the  House  before  it  became  a  law,  and  as 
the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  of  the  House  was 
well  known  to  those  who  were  keeping  up  with  the  game,  and 
was  giving  a  full  history  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  as  dated 
from  the  time  the  plotters  had  decided  to  take  the  leased 
vineyard,  and  being  familiar  with  the  work  of  the  former 
collector  in  building  up  the  port,  he  himself  lending  his  good 
influence  in  getting  the  appropriation  of  six  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  seeing  the  new  collector's  receipts  had  fallen 
off  so  materially,  he  put  his  foot  down  on  the  increase  and 
did  not  allow  it  to  pass. 

The  old  fox  Senator  did  not  think  that  when  he  was  using 
his  influence  against  the  old  collector  in  having  his  salary 
and  commission  reduced  from  thirty-six  hundred  dollars  a 
year  to  twenty-five  hundred  that  it  would  be  against  himself 
later  on,  yet  the  twenty-five  hundred  that  the  old  collector's 
salary  was  placed  at  by  the  Senate  was  the  lowest  price  of 


134  MEMORIES 


any  in  the  country  that  had  anything  like  half  as  much  duty 
as  was  collected  by  the  former  collector.  Little  did  he  think 
that  he  was  doing  the  thing  that  later  would  react  against 
his  plans,  nor  had  he  thought  probable  that  the  seed  that  one 
sows  he  will  have  to  reap. 

Before  the  former  collector  was  out  of  office,  the  supervis- 
ing architect  at  Washington  had  about  gotten  down  to  the 
new  customs-house  in  the  old  town,  as  there  were  about  sixty 
buildings  ahead  of  it,  and  each  one  had  to  take  its  place  on 
the  list,  but  for  some  cause  the  new  building  was  held  back 
for  some  time,  until  the  old  collector  could  be  disposed  of; 
then  at  once  great  interest  was  manifested  in  beginning  the 
new  building,  and  the  old  plans  that  were  drawn  by  the  old 
architect,  with  suggestions  of  the  former  collector,  were  put 
aside  for  a  new  one,  leaving  out  the  roof  garden,  plot,  grass, 
shrubbery,  the  walks,  with  seats  for  the  weary  to  enjoy  the 
breeze,  as  well  as  the  music  from  the  band.  Everything  was 
changed,  of  course,  but  sadly  for  the  interests  of  those  who 
have  been  denied  the  pleasure  that  was  intended  for  them 
under  the  plan  of  the  old  architect. 

After  two  or  three  years  the  building  was  completed  by 
the  supervising  architect  and  with  the  assistant  who  remained 
with  the  job,  and  it  stands  there  today  as  a  monument  to 
many  a  trial  and  tribulation. 

One  of  the  largest  shippers  of  the  country  wrote  the  for- 
mer collector,  after  he  retired  to  his  farm,  to  take  the  sun- 
shine, the  dew  and  the  rain,  finishing  his  children  with  the 
practical  part  of  their  education,  that  his  monument  was 
ready  built  out  of  granite  that  would  stand  through  the  cen- 
turies to  come. 

INGRATITUDE 

Alone  in  sadness,  only  my  Creator  as  Comforter, 
I  find  my  own  will  steeped  in  Sin  and  Selfishness, 
But  it  is  through  Him  I  discover  my  weakness, 
And  by  His  grace  my  weakness  makes  my  strength. 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  135 


Left  alone  by  flatterers  I  deemed  my  friends, 

I  flee  from  their  presence  to  my  country  home, 

There  to  labor  in  my  declining  years  with  my  hands  and  hoe, 

And  forget  ingi-atitude  and  raise  peas,  corn,  potatoes,  if  no  more. 

But  cotton,  wheat  and  rye  is  essential  as  are  things  to  fry, 

While  beef,  pork  and  mutton  may  satisfy  the  glutton ; 

Yet  our  lives  are  not  our  own, 

And  we  to  others  should  kindness  show,  by  word  if  nothing  more. 

Life,  after  all,  is  one's  self  in  a  passing  scene. 

To  be  interpreted  and  assorted  by  the  screen, 

Separating  the  good  from  the  bad,  by  tlie  Great  Judge. 

Will  we  be  found  with  the  honest  in  heart,  or  as  a  tinkling  sound? 

Our  friends  are  many  in  the  days  of  plenty ; 
Their  smiles  and  nods  are  with  us  on  every  street ; 
But  when  you  can  no  longer  serve  many  of  them, 
You  are  as  soon  forgotten  as  an  autumn  leaf. 

Why,  then,  be  so  foolish  as  to  forget  God  our  Creator, 
When  in  Him  we  find  the  only  friend  with  us  to  stay — 
One  who  never  fails  us  when  man  runs  away? 
He  is  always  ready  to  comfort  us  to  the  last  day. 

But  when  the  new  collector  failed  to  get  the  increase  in 
salary,  he  soon  resigned,  and  took  with  him,  or  tried  to  take, 
the  credit  of  all  the  big  monument,  and  would  have,  had  it 
not  been  for  thousands  of  honest  people  all  over  the  country, 
especially  in  Washington,  and  by  every  Congressman  in  the 
State,  who  helped  when  the}^  could,  by  word  or  deed. 

About  this  time  the  World  War  was  on,  and  the  former 
collector,  who  was  transferred  from  luxury  to  slavery  at  seven 
years  old,  to  take  up  the  work  of  the  former  slaves,  knew 
what  war  meant,  and  the  slavery  that  would  follow  it,  and 
at  his  spare  time  he  was  writing  to  each  Senator  and  Eepre- 
sentative  at  Washing-ton,  before  this  country  got  into  the  war, 
begging  them  to  keep  us  out  of  the  mad  slaughter-pen  of 
Europe,  as  it  was  a  war  of  jealousy,  envy,  and  plunder,  and 
if  we  were  forced  into  it  we  would  only  be  able  to  see  the 
glory  of  our  beautiful  country  by  looking  at  it  backwards, 
but  if  we  remained  out,  when  they  in  their  madness  finished 


136  MEMORIES 


destroying  each  other,  scuttling  their  own  ships,  we  would 
be  able  to  give  them  a  helping  hand  until  they  got  on  their 
feet  again. 

He  referred  them  to  the  critical  condition  the  South  was 
left  in,  though  only  a  star  on  the  world's  map.  He  knew 
then  that  the  speculators,  international  bankers  and  their 
agents  were  raising  a  campaign  of  propaganda,  controlling 
hundreds  of  the  largest  dailies  that  they  had  gotten  con- 
trol of,  with  their  pot-metal  plates  for  the  weeklies,  and  that 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  various  societies,  the  product 
of  those  that  were  trying  to  get  us  into  it,  were  financed  by 
our  own  money,  furnished  by  the  international  banks,  and 
finally  by  our  ovni  country  and  taxpayers,  which  ought  to  be 
a  warning  to  every  honest  man  and  woman,  as  well  as  to  our 
lawmakers. 

A  great  majority  of  those  who  were  pleaded  with  to  keep 
us  out  claimed  that  they  saw  it  in  the  same  light ;  but  a  short 
time  afterwards  the  propagandists  of  the  controlled  press 
became  so  bitter  that  honest  public  opinion  was  swept  aside, 
and  war  was  declared.  The  plotters  had  won  their  first  skir- 
mish, and  no  wonder  that  many  of  the  stout-hearted  wept 
while  they  voted  yea;  and  while  we  won  in  name,  still  the 
world  is  badly  defeated,  and  it  will  be  generations  before 
the  new  order  will  be  as  of  old,  and  we  will  have  to  acknowl- 
edge our  deception  before  God  before  we  have  peace.  An  old 
friend  who,  with  his  gTcat  influence  and  fine  diplomacy,  had 
been  implored  to  use  his  good  influence  to  keep  us  out,  replied 
that  he  was  sorry  to  hear  that  his  friend  was  so  disturbed 
over  the  likelihood  of  this  country's  getting  into  the  war, 
which  no  doubt  it  would,  but  it  would  be  the  best  thing,  as 
it  would  be  only  three  or  four  months  after  our  country 
entered  in  before  we  would  finish  it  up,  then  everything 
would  become  all  right  and  normal  again.  But,  with  the 
income-tax  collector,  with  every  other  tax  that  is  and  will  be 
for  years  to  follow,  the  old  friend  will  have  time  to  have 
another  think  coming. 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  137 


As  soon  as  war  was  declared,  every  lover  of  his  country 
knew  that  there  was  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  roll  up  their 
sleeves  and  do  their  best  to  win — either  whip  or  be  whipped; 
the  latter  was  not  thinkable;  and  the  former  collector,  now 
farmer,  had  two  sons  to  volunteer  their  services  at  the  very 
beginning.  A  third  one,  who  was  running  the  larger  farm, 
insisted  that  he  was  ready  to  go  any  time,  but  with  all  labor 
gone  where  they  were  getting  from  five  to  ten  dollars  a  day, 
which  left  the  large  farm  helpless,  except  what  could  be  pro- 
duced by  the  manager  with  machinery,  in  person,  and  the 
cry  for  raising  more  foodstuffs  coming  from  everywhere, 
caused  the  best  farmer  of  his  county  to  be  left  for  later  call. 
His  crops,  raised  mostly  by  himself  and  machinery,  with  a 
few  children,  were  no  doubt  the  best  raised  in  the  county. 
None  of  his  sons  had  any  pull,  and  had  to  stand  upon  their 
own  merits.  Those  that  volunteered  from  college  went  up 
the  ladder,  no  doubt  deserving  their  promotion.  The  old 
collector,  with  his  two  little  boys,  the  eleven-year-old  one 
doing  the  plowing,  the  afflicted  one  doing  the  hoeing  with  his 
father,  did  all  that  he  could  until  he  had  to  take  his  bed,  then 
to  the  hospital. 

IN  AND  OUT  THE  HOSPITAL 

The  hospital  is  a  wonderful  place, 

Often  relieves  one's  ills  and  cures  their  case, 

But  now  I  begin  to  think  it  is  time  for  me  to  leave, 

As  I  feel  that  I  have  been  greatly  relieved. 

Yes,  the  hospital  is  a  wonderful  place. 

They  are  either  taking  them  in  or  taking  them  out — 

Some  alive,  some  are  dead. 

Some  on  stretchers,  some  on  beds. 

It  is  wonderful  that  no  death  you  hear 

While  in  the  hospital,  and  you  so  near ; 

Yet  in  the  morning  when  in  the  papers  you  read, 

You  often  find  some  one  has  passed  into  the  dead  sea. 

Yet  it  is  well  that  all  that  happens  in  the  hospital  we  do  not  know, 
For  we  might  become  frightened  and  would  want  to  go. 
For  fear  we  might  be  taken  out  in  our  sleep, 
Through  a  mistake,  wrapped  up  in  a  white  sheet. 


138  MEMORIES 


When  he  returned  home  he  would  work  until  the  pain 
would  force  him  to  his  couch  or  bed ;  doing  more  than  he  was 
able  to  do  to  produce  food  for  the  boys,  who  had  to  be  clothed 
and  fed  while  in  the  war,  fighting  for  their  lives. 

About  the  time  the  war  began,  the  farmer  was  entreated 
by  letters  from  people  all  over  his  congressional  district,  ask- 
ing him  to  make  the  race  for  Congress.  While  he  had  no 
special  desire,  as  he  wrote  them,  to  go  to  Congress,  yet  if  it 
was  the  wish  of  the  majority  of  his  district,  he  would  make 
the  race  in  order  to  try  to  help  the  farmer  get  his  rights  in 
banking,  as  the  commercial  and  national  bankers  had,  that 
they  might  borrow  money  direct  from  the  government  on 
long  and  short  time  loans,  at  the  same  rate  of  interest  that 
the  commercial  and  national  banks  had  borrowed  from  the 
government,  in  order  that  the  farmer  could  hold  his  products 
and  fix  his  own  prices,  instead  of  the  international  and  com- 
mercial banks  fixing  it,  as  is  the  case  now.  If  it  was  their 
desire,  he  would  do  his  best  to  serve  them  to  the  very  best 
of  his  ability.  He  did  not  send  out  over  a  dozen  or  two  of 
these  letters,  and  told  his  friends  that  while  he  was  opposed 
to  our  entering  the  war,  sending  our  sons  to  the  slaughter- 
pen  of  Europe,  yet  since  we  were  in  it  we  had  to  win,  and 
we  must  do  everything  possible  to  do  so,  and  to  hold  up  the 
hands  of  our  President,  who  was  our  leader.  He  only  sent 
out  a  few  of  these  letters,  as  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  no  time  to  talk  politics  or  have  any  thought  but 
to  give  all  of  his  mind  and  thought  to  the  winning  of  the  war, 
and  let  such  things  take  care  of  themselves  later.  ^ 

THE  DOCTOR  AND  NURSE 

The  patient,  with  his  ails,  to  the  hospital  he  hails. 
There  to  meet  the  skilled  physician,  who  puts  on  no  frills, 
But  calls  in  the  liind,  white-capped  nurse,  who  shows  no  ruffles, 
But  for  one's  comfort  they  are  soon  on  a  hustle. 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  139 


What  a  blessing  the  hospital  is  to  humanity, 
Founded  upon  man's  love  to  his  brother  man, 
Where  pain  and  sutferinff  finds  friends  anxious  to  relieve, 
Willing  and  waiting  to  share  one's  griefs. 

Do  not  complain  if  your  bell  is  not  answered  before  one  can  think, 
As  the  kind,  white-capped  nurses  are  continually  on  their  feet. 
Honestly  endeavoring  to  do  their  best 
To  relieve  our  pain  and  make  us  well  again. 

Then  be  patient  with  the  doctor  and  the  nurse, 
For  often  they  will  relieve  you  from  the  worse 
Old  stomach  pain  that  has  been  your  curse, 
So  be  patient  with  the  doctor  and  the  nurse. 

The  white-capped  nurse  often  from  the  country  comes. 
Where  the  beautiful  forest,  with  its  blossoms  so  sweet. 
Has  shaped  her  kind  hands  to  the  restoration  of  mankind ; 
Then  sing  honor  and  praise  to  her  glorious  name. 

One  of  the  letters  that  was  mailed  out  got  into  the  hands 
of  some  political  enemies,  or  special  interest,  who  were  ready 
to  do  anything  to  defeat  him  in  anything  that  he  undertook. 
When  it  got  into  the  hands  of  the  attorney  of  the  new  col- 
lector, the  letter  was  printed  in  their  paper,  with  piecemeal 
comment  between  the  gaps,  creating  all  the  prejudice  against 
the  farmer,  even  claiming  that  it  was  treason  to  issue  a  letter 
at  that  time,  when  every  one  should  have  his  attention  on 
winning  the  war,  but  they  did  not  tell  that  the  letter  was  sent 
out  several  months  prior  to  the  time  that  they  published  it, 
nor  did  they  tell  their  readers,  nor  the  wild-eyed  papers  that 
copied  it,  that  this  farmer  was  working  every  day  on  his 
farm  when  he  was  physically  not  able,  with  his  entire  family, 
from  near  sunrise  to  sunset,  when  not  absolutely  forced  to 
take  his  bed  from  sheer  exhaustion,  endeavoring  to  raise  all 
the  foodstuffs  possible  to  feed  the  armies,  as  well  as  the  wild- 
mouthed  loafers  and  the  attorneys  of  his  kind. 

The  new  collector's  attorney,  being  one  of  the  vigilant 
committees  of  the  State,  had  to  prove  his  worth  by  his  work, 
and  a  special  detective  from  Philadelphia  soon  after  drove 
up  to  the  farmer's  home,  with  the  sheriff  and  his  deputy. 


140  MEMORIES 


Arriving  there  about  noon,  they  were  invited  to  go  in  and 
eat  with  the  family.  Before  doing  so,  the  detective  pulled 
out  a  copy  of  the  letter  that  the  overwrought  supposed  pa- 
triots, who  did  lip-work  and  raising,  no  doubt,  funds  from 
the  profiteers  upon  what  the  farmers  had  produced,  had 
given  him.  The  profiteers  were  fast  becoming  piggie  mil- 
lionaires, and  of  course  were  glad  to  show  their  appreciation 
of  the  good  things  that  they  were  getting  out  of  the  war,  and 
every  one  who  viewed  matters  in  a  plain,  truthful  way  was 
an  enemy. 

The  detective  read  one  paragraph  after  another  of  the  let- 
ter, asking  the  meaning  of  each.  The  farmer  told  him  that 
they  expressed  the  thought  of  the  writer,  who  was  and  had 
been  doing  all  that  he  could  to  help  his  country.  Having 
learned  how  the  ousted  collector  had  been  treated  by  those 
who  were  after  him,  and  how  he  was  put  out  of  his  office 
without  cause  before  his  lease  was  out,  and  was  still  the  tar- 
get of  some  of  those  who  had  treated  him  badly  years  before, 
who  had  not  yet  forgiven  him,  the  detective  remarked  that  it 
was  about  as  he  had  expected,  as  he  had  confidentially  in- 
quired of  those  that  he  came  in  touch  with  that  knew  him, 
and  all  had  given  him  the  most  praiseworthy  reputation.  He 
added,  in  leaving,  that  he  was  glad  he  came  to  investigate 
for  himself. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  farmer  that  those  who  have  tried  to 
injure  him  and  his  will  be  forgiven,  as  it  is  not  in  his  heart 
to  hold  malice  against  any  one ;  and  many  of  those  little 
things,  as  they  may  appear  to  some,  will  not  be  little  when 
the  people  have  become  able  to  think  in  a  cool,  sober  way. 
This  is  being  written  that  those  who  read  may  be  warned  not 
to  be  led  into  deeds  and  actions  that  they  may  bitterly  regret 
later,  as  all  of  us  are  our  brothers'  keepers. 

During  the  many  years  that  he  lived  in  the  old  city,  he 
farmed  all  the  while,  having  a  manager  to  supervise  the  farm. 
His  family  spent  three  months  on  the  farm  each  year,  the 
boys  working  as  other  laborers,  the  girls  also  learning  how 


HACK  TO  THE  FARM  141 

to  work  and  to  use  their  needles  in  making  their  own  clothes, 
should  it  become  necessary.  It  was  the  best  part  of  their 
entire  education,  even  including  their  college  course,  as  they 
are  all  appreciated  for  their  worth  by  those  who  know  them, 
and  are  at  the  forefront  in  all  that  they  undertake  to  do. 

The  public  improvements  that  have  been  such  a  blessing 
to  hundreds  in  the  reclaiming  and  draining  of  vast  quantities 
of  worthless  land  is  now  a  blessing  to  the  community.  Good 
roads,  nice  schools  and  churches  are  producing  a  new  and 
thriving  generation  that  could  not  have  grown  up  under  old 
conditions. 

The  experiment  with  ground  phosphate  lime  and  marl 
proved  them  far  superior  to  burned  lime  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. They  are  among  the  many  helps  which  the  former 
collector  introduced,  which  have  been  adopted  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  Washington  and  are  being  used  all 
over  the  United  States  in  place  of  the  old  burnt  lime  that 
destroyed  the  humus  in  soil. 

He  fought  for  twenty-five  years  for  good  roads  and  forest 
protection,  when  they  were  so  new  to  the  politicians  and 
editors  that  they  wondered  if  he  thought  people  were  fools 
enough  to  be  taxed  for  good  roads  for  other  people  to  ride 
over,  and  his  long  fight  in  this  State  for  forest  protection, 
which  meant  to  keep  the  stock  from  running  at  large,  caused 
him  thousands  of  dollars  of  loss,  with  enemies  multiplied, 
who  were  against  being  pulled  out  of  the  rut  and  on  the  road 
to  improvement. 

Having  to  chip  a  task  and  a  half  of  boxes  when  he  was 
seventeen  years  old,  he  discovered  that  cutting  holes  into  the 
pine  tree  was  fast  destroying  the  forests,  and  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  digging  a  hole  in  the  ground  and  letting  the  tur- 
pentine run  into  it,  or  placing  a  cup  at  the  bottom  of  the 
tree  to  catch  the  turpentine  in.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  some 
of  the  leading  papers  advocating  the  idea,  and  the  Forest 
Department  adopted  it.  They  experimented  on  a  forest  in 
Florida,  and  approved  of  the  plan,  and  sent  out  their  bulle- 


142  MEMORIES 


tins  over  the  turpentine  belt,  advising  the  nse  of  the  cup 
iijstead  of  cutting  holes  in  the  pines,  just  as  the  bulletins 
were  distributed  later  advising  the  use  of  ground  phosphate 
lime  in  the  place  of  burnt  lime. 

During  the  last  war,  when  fertilizer  ingredients  were  so 
scarce  and  hard  to  get,  except  cotton-seed  meal  and  phosphate 
acid,  he  was  requested  hy  the  State  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture to  get  up  a  formula  for  fertilizer.  This  he  did,  includ- 
ing mostly  ground  lime,  phosphate  acid,  fish  scrap  or  cotton- 
seed meal,  which  was  printed  and  sent  out  in  bulletins  to  the 
farmers  in  the  State,  and  no  better  crops  were  made. 

The  hardest  task  that  one  has  to  encounter,  if  he  happens 
to  be  progressive,  is  trying  to  get  people  out  of  old  ruts. 
They  will  curse,  as  a  rule,  any  one  who  attempts  it,  but  may 
later  see  their  error,  and  will  follow  if  it  is  at  a  long  distance. 
The  collector  and  farmer  has  lived  longer,  if  time  were 
measured  by  what  one  accomplishes,  than  the  average  man, 
should  he  live  beyond  the  century  mark,  and  while  he  is 
now  over  threescore  years  of  age,  and  in  feeble  health,  he 
is  as  active  as  the  average  man  of  much  younger  age.  While 
his  ideas  have  always  been  progressive,  yet  he  can  always 
learn  something  from  most  every  one  he  meets.  Having 
worked  at  such  a  gTeat  disadvantage,  yet  he  can  look  back 
and  see  that  it  was  not  in  vain,  if  cursed  at  times,  yet  fol- 
lowed, if  years  afterward.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  him  to  see  the 
great  fields  of  growing  crops  on  land  that  was  once  a  wilder- 
ness, inhabited  mostly  by  frogs,  snakes,  and  their  kind,  con- 
verted into  the  finest  farms,  producing  anything  that  is 
grown  in  the  State. 

Magnificent  churches  and  schools  have  been  built  by  those 
who  own  these  farms,  many  of  them  having  also  improved 
their  homes  and  made  them  better  places  for  their  families. 
Surrounded  by  splendid  forests,  they  can  appreciate  real  art 
and  never  tire  of  its  beauty,  when  nature  dresses  in  her 
spring,  summer,  and  autumn  garments,  that  remind  us  of 
the  glorious  things  that  have  been  given  us,  and  a  stepping- 


BACK  TO  THE  FARM  143 

stone  of  beautj  to  those  who  here  appreciate  and  protect  the 
little  things  that  have  been  entrusted  to  their  care.  Those 
who  do  not  appreciate  these  wonderful  gifts  are  to  be  pitied. 
If  they  would  think  for  a  moment,  they  would  realize  how 
easily  their  homes  could  be  adorned  and  surrounded  with  the 
beautiful  flowers  which  are  in  reach  of  all,  as  well  as  the 
lofty  tree  that  was  given  us  for  so  many  purposes,  that  are 
continually  stretching  out  their  finger  ends  toward  their 
Creator,  singing  with  the  breeze  in  reverence  to  their  Giver. 
What  a  blessing  we  have  in  them,  yet  they  are  shamefully 
neglected  by  the  average  person  because  the  children  have  not 
been  properly  trained  to  appreciate  and  love  the  many  beau- 
tiful things  in  nature,  with  which  we  are  surrounded  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave.  The  wonderful  pictures  painted  by 
the  hand  of  God  are  in  reach  of  all.  The  humblest  can  enjoy 
them  as  well  as  the  rich,  and  parents  should  not  neglect  to 
impress  their  children  with  the  pleasure  to  be  derived  from 
so  great  an  inheritance. 

Bennie  never  has  sincerely  regTctted  that  he  did  not  move 
away  from  the  town  where  he  was  persecuted,  as  one  of  his 
wealthy  N'orthern  friends  offered  to  put  in  his  hands  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  if  he  would  move  away,  and  agreed  to 
give  another  fifty  thousand  if  he  needed  it,  but  he  knew  that 
if  he  left  they  would  say  that  he  would  not  have  left  if  he  had 
been  innocent  of  what  the  persecutors  had  heaped  upon  him, 
and  he  had  rather  stay  and  live  to  prove  that  they  were  falsi- 
fiers, as  they  were. 

Truth  is  the  daughter  of  time,  and  what  is  in  us  of  the 
image  of  God  is  the  love  of  truth  and  justice. 

Shall  we  our  country's  noble  tradition  forsake — 

Those  that  have  made  our  people  so  noble  and  great? 

No,  not  to  the  Big  Four  in  their  desperate  straits, 

Which  are  trying  to  control  the  world  and  our  country  unmake. 

They  think  they  have  found  here  some  of  their  kind, 
Who  are  attempting  to  tie  our  hands  and  keep  us  blind. 
All  the  lovers  of  the  true  American  kind 
Are  asked  to  surrender  and  be  of  the  European  mind. 


144  MEMORIES 


A  world's  empire  they  are  striving:;  to  create, 
Composed  of  the  Big  Four,  they  thinli  they  can  mate, 
For  England,  with  her  colonies  to  dominate, 
And  America's  grand  institutions  will  be  only  a  fake. 

Let  not  party  nor  prejudice  be  our  guide. 

But  study  the  grave  questions  from  all  sides. 

Before  we  again  become  a  colony,  controlled  by  the  Big  Four, 

And  our  liberties,  our  traditions  all  swept  aside. 

Let  us  have  a  just  peace  that  will  end  wars, 
And  stay  in  America  and  cling  close  to  the  cross ; 
Let  Europe  and  the  Orient  over  there  do  the  same, 
And  none  of  us  will  have  a  cause  to  be  ashamed. 


POEMS 


10 


POEMS 


THE  COTTAGE  ON  THE  BANK 

During  storm,  January  28,  1921 

The  cottage  resting  upon  the  river  bank. 
Surrounded  by  nature's  lovely  forest, 
Tells  the  story  of  our  Creator's  artistic  love, 
Adorned  by  flowers,  songbirds  and  the  dove. 

The  cottage  has  memories  dear  and  near. 
The  river  breezes  whisper  gently  in  our  ears 
Of  the  many  happy  days  of  our  lives. 
As  the  breeze  sings  gently  to  the  skies. 

Yet  when  the  winter  storm  comes  with  its  frown, 
We  feel  safe,  as  the  cottage  is  upon  solid  ground. 
Our  thoughts  are  continually  resting  upon  Him, 
Who  is  anxious  and  willing  to  forgive  our  sins. 

The  windstorm  sings  its  songs  around  the  gables, 

Sometimes  loud,  fierce  and  strong ; 

But  we  only  have  to  remember 

Our  faith,  our  cottage  is  built  upon  solid  ground. 

The  storm  passes,  the  sunshine  becomes  sublime, 
Our  faith,  our  hopes  are  more  inclined 
To  see  the  beauty  that  continues  to  climb 
To  the  beautiful  abode  that  will  be  mine. 


TO  CHURCH  WE  GO 

If  it  is  to  the  church  you  go 
To  learn  the  things  you  should  know. 
Then  upon  you  the  pleasure  will  grow. 
The  more  to  the  church  you  go. 

But  if  to  the  church  you  go. 
Your  finery  to  others  show. 
You'd  better  stay  home  and  not  go. 
Lest  you  will  find  others  running  your  show. 

If  to  the  church  you  and  your  fellow  go. 
It  will  be  well  for  all  to  know 
That  it  is  your  fellow  you  are  getting  to  go, 
So  that  good  example  set  by  you  others  may  know. 

[147] 


148  POEMS 


THE  RIVER  SWAMP  ROAD 

What  a  trial  I  have  had  to  bear  no  one  but  my  Creator  knows, 

In  building  a  highway  that  was  promised  years  ago. 

Twenty  years  my  efforts  were  in  vain, 

Until  I  began  to  realize  my  life  was  fast  ebbing  away. 

Five  long  months  the  old  dredge,  with  tortoise  gait, 
Puffed,  creened,  shook,  until  it  and  I  seemed  a  fake. 
We  had  few  friends,  but  scores  of  dissenters, 
They  using  their  influence  more  than  a  plenty. 

To  see  the  canal  by  the  side  of  the  highway,  none  to  surpass, 
One  could  not  think  the  canal,  dug  through  thousands  of  stumps, 
Some  so  large,  eyes  and  mind  could  scarcely  believe 
That  twenty-odd  sticks  of  dynamite  required  their  release. 

Many  over  two  feet  under  the  ground,  over  thirty  feet  around. 
With  second-growth  timber  over  three  feet  through. 
Convinces  one  that  Columbus  was  not  the  first  to  discover  our  land, 
But  there  were  a  former  people  in  arts  mighty  and  grand. 

For  twenty  years,  pleading,  year  in  and  out,  but  in  vain. 
To  get  Pender's  commissioners  to  build  the  river  swamp  road. 
But  not  until  raising  sons  who  were  taught  never  backwards  go. 
They,  with  faithful  Cameron  Johnson  and  crew,  put  the  job  through. 

The  roadbed  filled  with  marl  and  mud-topped  two  feet  with  gravel- 
sand. 
Makes  a  highway  grand,  and  will  ever  stand. 
W^hen  generations  unborn  will  enjoy  the  labor  of  others, 
They  will  exclaim,  some  one's  work  made  tliem  fame. 


AGAINST  THE  LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

Deab  Brother  Johnson  : — I  have  just  read  Dr.  Truetfs  fine  ad- 
dress in  this  week's  issue,  but  I  am  one  of  those  that  believe  if  he 
had  studied  both  sides  of  the  League  of  Nations  as  brought  back 
from  Europe  by  Mr.  Wilson,  that  he  would  have  another  opinion 
of  it. 

It  was  born  in  deception.  Mr.  Wilson's  fourteen  points  looked 
fair  and  resembled  justice,  and  notwithstanding  they  wei'e  sanc- 
tioned by  England,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan,  apparently  to  deceive 
the  honest  people  of  the  world,  even  deluded  the  enemy  and  caused 


POEMS  140 


them  to  revolt  aiy:ainst  their  own  country,  expecting  they,  the  allies, 
were  fighting  for  justice  and  real  democracy.  But  behold!  What 
has  a  trusting  world  discovered?  Instead  of  a  war  for  justice  to 
the  conquered,  with  no  change  of  boundaries  nor  Indemnities,  we 
find  that  England,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan  have  formed  one  mighty 
empire  to  take  from  the  enemy  all  they  can  by  leaving  them  slaves. 
And  now  they  want  the  United  States  to  join  the  combination  of 
plunderers,  that  we  may  continue  to  send  our  sons  and  means  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  to  keep  intact  for  the  plunderers  the  ill-gotten 
gains  they  have  taken  or  stolen  from  a  naked,  helpless  people. 

No  wonder  the  great  mass  of  honest  people  are  turning  away  from 
such  partners  as  fast  as  the  veil  of  deception  is  lifted  from  their 
eyes,  and  I  believe  as  firmly  as  I  believe  in  a  true  and  just  God  that 
the  mighty  hand  of  justice  will  rebuke  in  some  way  such  treacherous 
actions  in  nations  as  well  as  in  individuals,  and  the  Baptist  organ  of 
a  great  denomination  is  doing  a  great  injustice  to  our  teaching  to 
condone  such  conduct  in  nations  or  individuals,  is  my  opinion. 

All  true  men  want  to  see  peace  and  the  ending  of  wars,  but  they 
do  not  want  to  let  the  deceptives  dictate  to  the  honest,  as  the  allies 
are  trying  to  do,  since  they  have  succeeded  in  plundering  the  world 
on  the  pretense  of  democracy. 


WHEN   JUSTICE    IS   GIVEN   THE    FARMER,    THEN   HE    WILL 
BE  AS  DESCRIBED  IN  VERSE 

The  grand  old  farmer,  it  is  the  soil  he  loves ; 
It  brings  food  and  raiment  to  all  mankind ; 
But  for  centuries  he  got  only  what  he  could  eat, 
Until  now  his  oppressors  are  on  the  retreat. 

The  speculator  over  his  crop  would  watch ; 
For  centuries  it  fell  to  their  lot 
To  work  and  toil  without  any  reward. 
Until  now  they,  the  farmers'  prosperity  means  meat  to  them  all. 

The  day  is  breaking  since  the  farmer  is  being  educated, 
And  no  longer  the  speculator  will  control ; 
So  all  humanity  will  share  in  his  blessing, 
Since  the  educated  farmer  began  progressing. 

Wake  up,  all  classes ;  gather  even  the  masses ; 
Give  praise  to  the  man  who  feeds  you  while  through  life  you  are 

passing. 
For  it  is  to  him,  not  his  oppressor. 
That  his  relief  and  comfort  will  also  bring  to  you  blessings. 


150  POEMS 


The  man  who  would  bind  you  by  party  chains, 
This  same  man  will  sell  you  later  for  gain. 
If  it  is  your  liberty  you  want  to  gain, 
Beware  of  this  party  man  who  over  party  goes  insane. 

The  party  man,  with  his  gang, 
His  business  is  to  fool  every  man  he  can ; 
Praising  his  party  until  he  has  you  complete, 
Then  to  his  bosses  he  will  sell  you  as  he  would  so  much  meat. 

So  beware  of  the  rank  party  man. 
For  he  is  more  treacherous  than  drifting  sand ; 
Though  he  may  be  honest,  but  does  not  understand 
That  it  takes  reasoning  to  become  a  broadmiuded  man. 


JIM  AND  KATE 

Dese  young  niggers  dey  some  sight, 
Dey  romp  all  day  and  all  night ; 
Dey  mammy  she  goes  about  crazy 
When  she  sees  de  young  niggers  is  so  lazy. 

What  we  is  to  do  I  cannot  see. 
For  Mosser  Ben  crib  it  done  and  fail, 
And  dis  year  dere  is  no  hay. 
And  when  I  go  to  de  little  store,  dunno  what  to  say. 

Sure  dey  little  store  are  high  and  mighty  shy. 
And  you  get  nothing  out  of  them  less  you  lie. 

If  you  lie  when  de  officer  comes,  de  old  woman  she  will  begin  to  cry, 
And  save  my  life  it  looks  like  we  all  going  to  die. 

De  only  way  I  see  to  do  is  go  to  the  war,  fight  dem  Huns 
Until  de  last  one  of  them  is  on  the  run. 
Den  when  I  comes  back  Kate  and  I 
We  will  be  somebody  way  up  high. 

So  I  am  just  as  happy  as  I  can  be, 
To  think  I  am  willing  to  do  so  much  for  my  country. 
When  dem  lazy  niggers  me  dey  will  see, 
Dey  will  say  sure  der's  one  nigger  I  would  like  to  be. 


POEMS  151 


HOG-KILLING  TIME 

Hog-killins  time  on  the  farm  is  great ; 
The  sausages,  spare-ribs,  puddings,  all  well  mates ; 
Everybody  is  happy  as  eats  can  make. 
I  tell  you,  hog-killing  time  on  the  farm  is  something  great. 

The  old  women  who  prepare  the  hog  dainties,  all  of  their  own 
make. 
Find  time  to  make  some  extra  for  their  neighbors'  sake — 
All  because  the  neighbors,  they  too  sometimes  make. 
And  to  have  reciprocal  neighbors,  we  have  to  give  and  take. 

The  city  folks  oftentimes  get  a  taste 
Of  some  of  the  nice  things  out  of  the  pigs  we  make, 
But  often  it  is  stale,  and  not  always  as  well  made 
As  the  dainties  made  by  careful  hands  who  make  for  their  own  plate. 

Yet  while  the  city  folks  have  their  revels  and  fun, 
We  country  people  do  not  have  to  go  in  a  run ; 
Still  we  have  the  best  of  everything  that  pig  meat  can  make. 
I  tell  you,  an  old  oven  with  a  good  cook  is  no  fake. 

The  pig  feet,  when  well  fried,  are  hard  to  beat ; 
And  the  chitterlings,  too,  are  good  to  eat ; 
Then  there  is  the  hog's  head,  when  made  to  souse, 
Is  so  rich  and  tasty  it  is  enough  to  give  one  the  gout. 


"CHILDREN  ARE  CHILDREN" 

The  aged  person  complains  of  things  that  seem  insane ; 
The  youthful  laughs,  says  we  are  not  to  blame, 
For  Father  and  Mother  were,  too,  once  gay. 
And  forget  that  it  is  natural  for  children  to  love  to  play. 

Then  do  not  think  that  children  are  not  like  children  then, 
For  nature  is  the  same,  if  we  do  forget  and  complain 
Of  the  things  in  their  nature  that  does  not  always  seem  sane, 
For  it  is  only  Father  and  Mother  living  Childhood  over  again. 

There  are  distinctions  in  everything. 
Then  why  not  well  mannered  children  have  their  play. 
Lest  they  become  insane,  instead  of  being  innocent  and  gay, 
For  childi'en  are  children  and  must  have  their  play. 


152  POEMS 

OBITUARY  TO  "OLD  BOOZE" 

(111  Mercy  Hospital,  Baltimore,  the  day  booze  was  outlawed) 

Oh.  you  booze,  the  booze  of  old, 
You  who  have  made  so  many  f,'ray  and  old. 
Can  now  bow  your  head  in  infamous  shame. 
As  we  know  your  death  is  man's  gain. 

For  centuries  you  have  debauched  man. 
And  have  dressed  in  rags  all  you  can ; 
Now,  mothers,  wives,  children  and  friends 
Can  say,  at  last  you  have  your  reward.     Amen. 

The  wives  you  have  sent  to  their  graves, 
The  happy  homes  you  have  unmade, 
Stand  as  a  witness  against  you  today. 
And  will  keep  you  forever  at  bay. 

The  asylums  that  you  have  filled, 
For  your  greed,  when  you  knew  it  would  kill ; 
The  wretchedness  that  you  have  made, 
Is  the  curse  that  will  be  with  you  in  your  grave. 


THE  PICTURE  SHOW 

The  moving-picture  show  is  where  most  all  go. 

Yet  the  more  they  go,  the  less  they  know 

About  things  in  life  that  to  them  would  be  worth  more. 

When  in  life  they  begin  to  grow  old. 

If  for  wisdom  you  want  to  gain. 

Take  your  books  from  authors  of  fame ; 

Give  your  time  while  you  have  a  bright  mind : 

It  will  be  worth  in  the  end  more  than  a  gold  mine. 

So  select  your  companions  of  the  best  minds. 
If  you  seek  the  best  in  the  world  to  find. 
When  you  do,  your  company  will  be  refined. 
And  you  will  find  it  more  pleasant  all  the  time. 

So  use  your  talents  for  what  they  were  intended — 

Not  stifle  them  for  the  picture  show. 

If  you  do,  you  will  soon  not  want  to  go. 

But  will  love  the  things  that  will  learn  you  more. 


POEMS  153 


THE  NEGLECTED  GIRL 

The  little  spoiled  girl  of  the  cross-roads  town, 
That  meets  all  trains,  under  any  strain. 
Throwing  her  smiles  and  blinking  her  eyes 
To  every  boy  for  miles  she  can  spy. 

It  is  the  same  girl  that  leaves  to  her  mother 
All  the  drudgery  work  to  do, 

Going  through  the  world,  giving  it  a  bad  spell  of  the  blues, 
All  because  the  world  sees  she  will  not  do. 

Who  is  to  blame  but  Ma  and  Pa 
If  this  thoughtless  girl  goes  to  the  bad? 
The  fickle  will  laugh  when  she  smiles — 
At  the  same  time  she  they  will  despise. 

Help  the  little,  spoiled,  neglected  girl 
To  see  the  danger  around  her  lures ; 
That  as  she  grows  old,  help  her  to  learn  more. 
Before  her  life's  journey  is  over. 


MOTHERS'  CLUB 

The  war,  in  all  its  various  forms. 
Everything  upside  down,  trouble  just  begun. 
Every  notorietj'-seeker  on  the  run. 
Trying  to  get  every  one  but  himself  to  shoulder  his  gun. 

Some  are  starving,  others  freezing ; 
Some  coughing,  others  sneezing, 

All  because  our  love  to  our  fellow-man  is  not  pleasing 
To  our  Creator,  who  alone  can  keep  us  from  starving  and  freezing. 

Some  sincere,  others  deluded ; 
Some  trying  to  imitate  their  rulers ; 
Some  sincere,  some  fakes. 
While  many  see  nothing  but  spies  and  snakes. 

So  the  war  in  all  its  various  forms 
Will  bring  to  us  many  reforms — 
Some  for  good,  some  for  bad — 
Most  of  them,  we  fear,  will  be  to  us  sad. 


154  POEMS 


Who  is  to  take  the  mother's  place 
While  at  the  club  she  mostly  stays? 
The  poor  little  child  is  being  beguiled, 
For  the  lack  of  the  true  mother's  smile. 

W^ho  are  to  train  the  wives  of  our  sons 
If  the  work  at  home  is  not  begun 
By  the  love  and  gentle  care 
Of  the  mother,  whose  God  she  doth  fear? 

Woe,  then,  to  the  country  whose  women  do  not  care 
What  becomes  of  their  children  when  they  are  not  near — 
Attending  their  meetings,  others  get  their  greetings. 
The  children  at  home  from  their  servants  get  their  beatings. 


THE  RISING  SUN 

The  morning  sun  from  under  the  skies 
Peeps  out  so  radiant  and  bright 
That  when  its  beauty  we  behold. 
For  grandeur,  sublimity,  we  cannot  ask  for  more. 

When  it  peeps  from  out  of  the  east. 
The  sparkling  dew  then  bids  the  sun  adieu, 
Until  at  noon,  when  the  dew  is  subdued. 
The  sun  faces  the  west,  where  its  beauty  looks  the  best. 

So  it  is  the  sun  that  stands  so  bright  and  high, 
Yet  everything  on  earth  to  it  is  drawn  nigh. 
For  our  Creator  gave  it  to  serve  us  before  the  world  was, 
And  we  all  proudly  say  His  work  was  well  done. 

Then  sing  praise  to  Him  of  the  beauty  that  surrounds  our  life, 
For  it  is  more  grandeur  than  we  deserve. 
If  it  was  not  by  the  hand  of  our  kind  Creator, 
Satan  would  soon  have  one  as  an  imitator. 

The  beautiful  sun,  when  it  is  in  the  west, 
Represents  the  work  of  an  honest  man  when  he  is  at  his  best — 
Representing  all  that  stands  for  the  best. 
Though  he  may  no  longer  be  here,  his  work  will  tell  the  rest. 


POEMS  155 


DEDICATED  TO  THE   STAFF  AND  NURSES 
AT  MEMORIAL  HOSPITAL 

(In  bed,  James  Walker  Memorial  Hospital,  Jan.  23,  1918) 

Tlie  kind-hearted  nurse,  with  her  rosy  cheeks, 

Whose  eyes  are  as  brifjht  as  the  sparkling  dew, 

Arranges  your  bed  with  her  careful  hands, 

That  when  you  fall  asleep  you  dream  you  are  in  the  fairy  land. 

It's  Miss  Lena  McLean,  whose  manners  are  so  cute, 
Her  gentle  look  is  enough  to  subdue  the  brute ; 
Her  plump  cheeks,  with  her  lips  so  red, 
Make  the  patient  forget  he  is  confined  to  his  bed. 

What  a  nurse  she  would  be  in  a  hospital  camp. 

Where  the  wounded  boy  could  clasp  her  hand, 

Where  he  would  soon  learn  to  obey  her  gentle  command 

As  if  he  was  on  the  firing  line,  fighting  for  his  sacred  land. 

Her  rosy  cheeks,  with  her  pleasant  smiles, 

We  all  soon  learn  to  love  or  admire ; 

Her  duty,  the  Red  Cross  nurse  never  neglects. 

Though  the  patient  may  be  only  a  bundle  of  frets. 

Oh,  what  a  noble  calling  it  is  to  be  a  good  nurse- 
One  that  can  soothe  the  pain  and  make  us  well  again. 
It  is  with  such  a  nurse  that  our  blessings  come  from  on  high. 
Though  her  reward  will  come  only  when  she  goes  to  her  home 
in  the  skies. 

The  poor,  friendless  man,  with  his  loathsome  disease, 
For  relief  and  safety  to  the  hospital  he  they  speed. 
While  the  nurse,  without  one  word  of  discontent. 
Administers  to  his  needs  as  though  he  was  a  king  of  great 
descent. 

Then  hurrah !  hurrah !  for  the  Red  Cross  nurse. 

For  it  is  to  them  the  afflicted  owe  so  much 

That  we  never,  never  can  repay. 

But  can  sav  hurrah !  hurrah !  for  the  Red  Cross  nurse. 


156  POEMS 


Appreciative  tlioughts  of  Casper  Dails,  the  Tramp, 
in  thinking  of  his — - 

"SISTER  MAGGIE" 

My  loving  sister  Oh,  how  dear, 
Who  always  to  me  has  been  so  near, 
May  the  shining  angels  over  her  watch. 
May  peace  and  joy  always  be  her  lot. 

A  sister  who  can  be  so  kind, 
Will  have  the  love  of  all  mankind, 
May  her  noble  worth  to  those  on  earth, 
Give  her  a  home,  a  heavenly  berth. 

To  the  hospital  me  she  has  often  sent. 
To  cure  my  pains,  make  me  well  again. 
Now  I  sing  praise  to  her  glorious  name. 
For  her  noble  deeds  to  the  helpless,  gives  her 
fame. 


OPEN   LETTER   TO   FARMERS   AND    FRIENDS,   1922 

Since  there  are  only  twenty-two  farmers  in  the  United  States 
Congress,  as  compared  with  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  lawyers 
and  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  business  men,  is  it  any  wonder 
that  the  farming  interests,  the  pillow  that  all  other  business  is  rest- 
ing upon,  is  crushed  to  the  ground,  not  only  destroying  the  hope  of 
agriculture,  but  eventually  all  other  businesses  and  classes  will 
reach  the  pitiable  position  that  the  farming  interest  has  been  forced 
to  occupy,  i.  e.,  white  slaves,  because  its  friends  have  not  been  at 
court  to  see  that  justice  has  been  given  them,  the  same  as  to  the 
banker  and  business  men  who,  through  the  national  banking  system 
inaugurated  by  President  Lincoln  as  an  emergency  in  time  of  war, 
but  with  the  purpose  that  it  should  be  repealed  or  would  finally 
destroy  our  republic  by  making  it  possible  for  the  few  who  control 
our  banks  to  control  the  wealth  of  our  country.  The  system  would 
have  been  repealed  had  Lincoln  lived,  but  those  who  controlled  the 
banks  saw  that  they  controlled  the  destiny  of  the  nation,  including 
all  its  people.  Thus  we  see  millionaires  springing  up  like  toadstools 
over  night. 

This  gigantic  robbery,  under  the  sanction  of  the  law,  is  now  con- 
trolling the  Government,  and  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  farmer  of 
today  has  less  protection   than   the  negro  slave  of  the  Old   South 


POEM^  157 


from  their  masters  before  the  Civil  War?  Agriculture  has  come  to 
the  partinj;  of  the  roads ;  it  asks  for  justice — no  more  and  no  less — 
in  that  we  demand  a  bankin,i?  system  exclusively  for  the  farming 
interests  and  stockraisers,  divorced  completely  from  the  commercial 
and  international  banks,  by  which  it  may  be  made  to  function  the 
same  as  commercial  banks,  without  beinji  blocked  with  red  tape,  and 
that  the  farmer  and  producer  may  borrow  from  said  banks  on  short 
and  long  time  loans  at  the  same  rate  of  interest  that  the  commercial 
and  international  banks  borrow. 

The  Farm  Loan  Banks  secure  their  loans  by  mortgages  on  farm 
products,  on  short  loans,  and  on  farm  lands  on  long-time  loans. 
When  Congress  realized  the  critical  period  that  is  before  us  and 
joined  with  the  few  friends  who  are  trying  to  save  their  country, 
rather  than  destroy  it  by  being  led  further  into  European  affairs  by 
the  international  banks  and  gamblers,  then  will  we  see  the  farmer 
and  producer  for  the  first  time  in  fifty  years  able  to  make  the  price 
of  his  own-raised  products,  and  not  until  then  will  co-operative  mar- 
keting be  of  much  benefit  to  the  farmer.  We  all  realize  (certainly 
the  international  bankers  do)  that  he  who  controls  our  money  con- 
trols the  price  of  our  products. 

The  Farm  Loan  Banks,  managed  by  business  farmers  or  friends 
of  the  agricultural  interests,  will  enable  the  farmer  to  make  a 
decent  living,  educate  his  children,  giving  them  the  same  advantages 
other  children  have,  and  then  we  will  see  all  classes  prosper,  the 
bankers  included,  and  farm  life  will  take  its  rightful  place  in  our 
nation,  where  it  has  been  so  long  oppressed. 

If  the  farmer  has  banking  facilities  suitable  to  his  needs,  he  will 
be  ready  to  use  co-operative  marketing  to  its  fullest  advantages,  and 
through  their  warehouses  and  packing  systems  would  be  enabled  to 
sell  their  surplus  products  in  foreign  markets,  after  supplying  this 
country,  thus  getting  the  extra  profit,  or  part  of  it,  that  the  con- 
trollers of  our  money — price-fixers — get  for  it,  and  which  enriches 
them  alone,  at  the  expense  of  the  helpless  producers,  as  well  as  the 
consumers.  We  will  never  see  peace  restored  until  justice  is  given 
to  producers,  who  in  turn  can  relieve  the  consumers  of  farm  prod- 
ucts. This  done,  you  will  see  new  life  in  all  classes  of  business. 
Those  in  Europe  and  elsewhere  will  be  supplied  to  a  great  extent 
by  those  who  produce  their  needs  as  each  co-operative  organization 
will  supply  their  portion  of  their  needs.  This  will  enable  all  pro- 
ducers (whether  they  are  able  or  not  to  borrow  from  the  Farm  Loan 
Banks,  for  the  lack  of  proper  security  or  reputations)  to  join  the 
co-operative  marketing  association  and  get  full  benefit  of  these  asso- 
ciations, at  the  same  time  keeping  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
gamblers  who  have  been  giving  them  the  least  they  could  to  eke  out 
a  mere  living.  No  wonder  our  children  want  to  leave  the  farm, 
where  they  can  make  only  a  scanty  living,  and  crowd  the  cities, 
when  they   see   their  efforts  is  only  slavery   for  themselves,   while 


158  POEMS 


others  are  enjoying  all  the  profits  on  what  they  have  produced. 
Will  you  help  to  right  this  wrong  by  writing  your  Congressman, 
Senators  and  friends  to  give  us  the  remedy  now,  before  it  is  too  late, 
as  oppression  produces  radicalism?  The  Farm  Bloc  is  fighting  our 
battle.  Ask  your  Representative  to  join  with  them  to  give  us  the 
desired  relief.  If  they  refuse,  send  a  new  Representative  next  time. 
Under  this  system  the  farmers  would  soon  be  able  to  finance  them- 
selves without  Government  aid. 


OPEN  LETTER  TO  HON.  HENRY  WALLACE,   SECRETARY 
OF  AGRICULTURE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

CuRRiE,  N.  C,  September  28,  1922. 
Dear  Mr.  Secretary  : 

You  may  remember  that  I  wrote  you  in  the  spring,  asking  that 
you  call  together  three  or  four  hundred  real  dirt  farmers — no  specu- 
lators or  bankers,  only  dirt  farmers — to  meet  in  conference  in  AVash- 
ington  on  December  6th  and  7th. 

I  have  written  to  farmers  in  almost  every  State,  feeling  them  out 
on  coming  together  and  try  to  agree  upon  a  banking  system  that 
will  mean  a  permanent  help  to  the  agricultural  interests,  which,  of 
course,  will  mean  relief  to  all  other  classes  of  business  and  people. 
The  present  banking  system  gives  more  power  and  wealth  to  the 
bankers,  which  enables  them  to  wind  their  web  tighter  around  the 
farmer  by  lending  them  bank  credits,  doubled  up,  and  notes,  etc., 
received  from  the  farmers,  rediscounted  at  the  twelve  regional  banks, 
and  loaned  again  and  again  until  the  banks  are  getting  interest  eight 
or  ten  times  out  of  the  producers  (at  6  to  8  per  cent)  on  the  real 
money  they  have  in  their  banks,  thus  drawing  blood  out,  or  interest 
out  of  the  producers  faster  than  real,  honest  wealth  can  be  produced, 
and  is  it  any  wonder  that  we  are  getting  worse  off  each  year,  having 
to  humiliate  ourselves  by  being  foi'ced  to  beg  individuals,  money 
lenders,  to  lend  us  what  the  Government  (Congress)  has  given  a  few, 
less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  the  people,  the  power  to  tax  at 
their  own  will  the  remainder  of  the  99%  per  cent  of  the  people. 

Why  not  lend  the  producers  the  Government  credit  direct,  secured, 
of  course,  at  the  same  rate  of  interest  the  Government  lends  to  the 
favored  bankers,  who  are  allowed  to  multiply  their  interest  eight  or 
ten  times  at  G  and  8  per  cent?  If  Mr.  Harding  will  ignore  the 
wreckers  of  the  world  today,  and  keep  them  from  handling  the 
money  for  the  farmer  and  other  classes  by  advocating  direct  loans 
to  the  agricultural  and  wealth-producing  interests  of  the  Government 
credits,  same  as  the  old-time  greenbacks  that  saved  the  country  in 
time  of  its  greatest  peril,  he  will  not  only  save  it  now  from  collapse, 


POEMS  159 


but  it  will  restore  peace  and  prosperity  the  world  over,  as  all  other 
nations  will  gladly  follow  suit.  The  Government  to  collect  interest 
on  all  loans  which  would  help  to  pay  expenses  of  government. 

I  ask  if  you  will  take  the  matter  up  with  the  President  to  call  a 
conference  of  real  dirt  farmers  to  meet  in  Washington,  December 
6th  and  7th,  to  be  heard  on  their  needs  in  the  way  of  banking. 

If  the  President  will  use  his  good  offices  in  this  direction,  and 
insist  on  a  bill  divorcing  the  farmers  from  the  money  trust,  there 
would  be  no  power,  save  above,  from  keeping  the  people  from  re- 
nominating and  electing  him ;  but  should  the  money  trust  succeed  in 
defeating  this  plan  that  will  mean  relief,  then  you  will  see  the  issue 
squarely  drawn  between  the  people  and  the  banking  trust,  and  their 
money  and  subsidized  press  and  so-called  Congressmen  and  Senators 
will  not  be  able  to  save  them  from  the  wrath  of  a  long-suffering 
people. 

I  hope  you  will  let  me  hear  from  you ;  also  would  thank  you  to 
be  kind  enough  to  place  this  letter  before  the  President  for  his  con- 
sideration and  approval,  as  I  have  the  greatest  confidence  in  his 
desire  to  serve  all  the  people  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

With  best  wishes,  and  thanking  you  in  advance,  I  am 
Yours  respectfully, 

B.  F.  KEITH,  Farmer. 

THE  END 


?;n' 


